Spanning from 2008 to 2027, the novel unfolds during a period of intense social and economic change in the United States. The 2008 financial crisis marks the start of the narrative, immediately placing the four main characters on precarious economic ground because of the ways it exacerbated existing inequalities: “The racial wealth gap was already sizable prior to the Great Recession, [but during the recession] Black and Latino households lost 48 and 44 percent of their wealth, respectively, while white households lost just 26 percent” (Hubbard, Lukas. “Race, Not Job, Predicts Economic Outcomes for Black Households: Black families fared worse after the Great Recession.” Duke Today, 16 Sep. 2021). This devastating financial crisis in turn reshaped urban landscapes. Black families were less likely to maintain homeownership or to acquire new homes. Subsequent investment patterns often accelerated gentrification in historically Black neighborhoods, a process that displaces long-term residents and alters cultural identity. Because Black citizens were more disadvantaged by the events of 2008, “many Black families entered the COVID-19 pandemic in a state of financial precarity” (Hubbard).

The novel is set against these social and economic dynamics and incorporates references to the 2020 Black Lives Matter and social justice movement following George Floyd’s murder. The characters are often talking about money, politics, and social activism. Other narrative allusions to the mid- and late-aughts zeitgeist underscore the distinct intersection of the women’s Black identities and their urban environments. When January moves to Harlem, for example, she finds an apartment in a building where a previous tenant was evicted and where the real estate broker seems to prefer new residents who are not Black. This reflects the real-world demographic shifts in Harlem: “Since 2000, central Harlem’s [...] Black population [...] is smaller than at any time since the 1920s (Roberts, Sam. “No Longer Majority Black, Harlem Is in Transition.” The New York Times, 5 Jan. 2010). The characters’ feelings of instability and their ongoing searches for belonging are thus grounded in the tangible displacement occurring in the places they call home. Against this backdrop, the rise of social media offers new avenues for community and self-definition, as seen in Monique L.’s blog and January Wells’s freelance career, which both function as attempts to build stability in an increasingly precarious world.