Mississippi

The economically troubled state of Mississippi is the broad strokes setting for the novel. A southern state with a history of racism and slavery, it is an appropriate setting for a story that has, to a significant degree, racism as both a key theme and a defining factor in much of its action.

Chabot

This is one of the small Mississippi communities where much of the action is set. In spite of the presence of a large, productive mill, the town is economically depressed and, in narration, looks it, with run-down and abandoned buildings, wild-growing weeds, and a bar in the back of an abandoned school bus.

Fulsom

This is the second of the two communities in which the action of the narrative is set. Like Chabot, Fulsom is economically depressed, although slightly better off as the result of a Wal-Mart store in the town. The name "Fulsom...