Belgium functions as both literal birthplace and symbolic origin point in Lucy's memoir, representing the foundational experiences of displacement, linguistic difference, and cultural otherness that would define her entire approach to identity. As the country where Lucy spent her early childhood speaking only French, Belgium establishes the pattern of existing between worlds that would characterize her life—first between French and English, European and American cultures, and eventually between masculine and feminine identities. The industrial decline that forced her father to seek work in America positions Belgium as a place of economic limitation and lost possibility, where traditional working-class life could no longer sustain families like the Santes. Yet...