Willow Falls, Illinois

While it is explicitly stated in Nyhan’s novel that Willow Falls is a village in Illinois, further information concerning Willow Fall’s geographic location within Illinois can only be inferred through contextual analysis. However, details within the text suggest that Willow Falls is a suburb of Chicago. For example, at the Willow Falls bookstore event, Paige noted the Chicagoans in attendance. Also, Paige’s husband died on the Kennedy Expressway, a freeway in metropolitan Chicago. Lastly, Paige remembers how she and Jesse used to sometimes “go into the city in search of some new hot spot Jesse had read about in Chicago magazine” (100). Literary clues suggest that Willow Falls is located relatively near Chicago.

Gated subdivision, Willow Falls, Illinois

The narrator and main character, Paige Moresco lives in a “gated, private subdivision” located “on the outskirts of Willow Falls, with its own rules and bylaws...