Kellyville

The majority of the memoir is set in Kellyville. Kellyville is "the small outer Sydney suburb" where Cleo and Bordy Clarke settle shortly after moving from England to Australia (16). The neighborhood is located "on the rural fringe, houses in the area [are] comparatively cheap, and the sleepy suburban village [is] within commuting distance of [Bordy's] teaching job at the university" (16, 17). He and Maxine regard Kellyville as "the kind of place . . . they might start and raise a family" (17). Indeed, the couple lives here with their three children over the course of Maxine's childhood. The family lives on Hectare Street and quickly discovers that "everybody kn[ows] everybody" in the village (17). The Clarkes are also the only Black family they know and are therefore perceived as outsiders. Chapters 1 - 24 take place in this setting because Kellyville is the primary backdrop for Maxine's coming of age. The town's social dynamics thus...