New England

With the exception of "Radiolab: Singularities" and "The Auk," all of the stories in The History of Sound are set in New England. The characters either originate from, travel to, or reside in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, and Maine. This common New England backdrop ties the stories together, suggesting that all of the characters are a part of the same world and regional history.

No matter where the characters are living, their New England settings are defined by hills, farmhouses, museums, forests, and wildlife. The characters often take hikes, research the past, or encounter mysterious artifacts linking them to their ancestors.

Maine

The stories "The History of Sound" and "Origin Stories" primarily take place in Maine. In "The History of Sound," Maine is important to Lionel, because this is where he spent the summer of 1919 with his former lover David. After David returned from World War...