The cliff off Devil’s Cove, near the old church in which Angelo’s father used to preach, is a recurring setting in the novel, one with strong, complex significance to both Angelo and Rory. Angelo’s storyline begins nine years before the narrative present at the church, grieving at his parents’ funeral. Due to his father’s profession—and how he utilized confessions to blackmail townspeople—the church represents his warped perspective on religion, morality, and family. The cliff nearby is a perch from which to observe the town and the docks, or the center of La Cosa Nostra’s smuggling operation, and thus represents the privileged, powerful position Angelo and the Viscontis hold in the area.

Meanwhile, Rory begins her story at the cliff, plagued by her “sins” and considering dying by suicide. The setting exists between the richer location of Devil’s Cove in which the Viscontis live and the regular, working-class town of Devil’s Dip that Rory comes from. The former represents imprisonment and the risk of harm, while the latter represents freedom, happiness, and the pursuit of her own interests. She returns to this liminal space throughout the novel as she tries increasingly to secure her own agency once again, such as when she first participates in a sexual encounter with Angelo and when she plans how to kill Alberto. Finally, at the novel’s conclusion, she stands with Angelo after their wedding and discusses how they’ll prepare for the upcoming turf war. This final scene represents the completion of her journey, where she now holds a position of power and independence like Angelo, just as she now ascribes to his more relative, gray morality.