The setting of the book ranges over a broad span of time, beginning with a glance at two very different time periods, introducing the theme of The Healing Power of Accepting the Past. The Prologue introduces a story placed in a near-contemporary moment, 2020, with the conflict of the 50-year-old Everly being told her pre-adoption birth certificate isn’t on record. This introduces a crisis of identity for Everly, who points out that there are not only legal restrictions on her because of this lack of documentation—she cannot be issued a passport without this record of her birth pre-adoption—it also makes her feel, as she says, that “I don’t exist” (3). These concerns with identity, records, and name changes will be echoed in several later moments in the novel, with the past influencing the present in important ways.

Going back over 100 years in the same setting of Buffalo, New York, the fictional excerpt from the newspaper uses the term “wayward girls” (7), introducing the theme of The Cost of Contravening Social Norms. The article defines “wayward” as a departure from expected or approved modes of behavior, especially regarding sexual conduct. The judgmental attitudes are emphasized in the choice of language like “fondness for bad company,” “streetwalker, and “truancy” (7), which is defined as unexcused absence from school. The article shows a bias toward appearances in the way both girls are described as “well-developed and fair-appearing” (7), but the article neglects to question why Ella Dunn might have run away from her parent, or why she was allowed, at the age of 13, to be legally married to a man who thereafter deserted her. 

In addition to establishing the attitudes that police and shame girls and women without interrogating the same behavior from men, the article also establishes that the institution known as the Home of the Good Shepherd is viewed as a place to send young women who are considered delinquents. This confirms the sense that “reform” is needed to compel these young women to comply with social norms and expectations, without examining if or how those norms might harm them.

The restrictive beliefs still in place for young women during the 1960s are also hinted at in the whispers that Fiona is “in trouble,” meaning that her pregnancy is considered shameful and she is to be hidden from her friends and family while she bears the child, whom she will then have to give up for adoption. The threat their external world poses to the girls is physically manifested in Colm’s attack on Mairin, a demonstration of how those in positions of authority can act to harm or imperil those in their care. Liam’s mentorship of Mairin, in teaching her how to drive and how to defend herself from attack, sets up her character arc of defiance in the face of injustice, a longing for self-sufficiency, and her refusal to be broken by abuse.

The setting of late summer, 1968, also places Mairin’s narrative in the latter half of a decade that saw significant cultural changes in the United States, marked by rebellions against sexual and behavioral norms that some young people defined as oppressive. This is encapsulated by the “hippie” commune in which Flynn’s girlfriend Haley lives. The music Mairin loves to listen to hints at these broader cultural movements while showing her restlessness, curiosity about the world, and streak of defiance. The reference to Liam’s favorite band, Pink Floyd, and their “woozy, psychedelic music” (28) hints at the experimental, philosophical explorations taking place in musical fields and echoes Mairin’s restless wish for new and broader experiences. 

The Beatles, one of Mairin’s favorite groups, were also British musicians who were regarded as pioneering, countercultural, and revolutionary for their own time, reflecting Mairin’s ability to defy authority. Donovan, a Scottish folk musician, was associated with the movement nicknamed “flower power” that used peaceful methods to protest acts of war and violence. It is implied that the commune at Heyday Farm is aligned with such “hippie” movements. At the same time, Mairin’s enjoyment of the US-based folk-rock group the Stone Poneys, featuring vocalist Linda Rondstadt, also hints at movements toward female independence that, in addition to the changing cultural norms, forms a contextual and thematic backdrop for the book.

The setting in the city of Buffalo also reflects how the broader cultural landscape is changing, a background conflict that contextualizes the characters’ immediate concerns. The Fruit Belt, once a prosperous growing area, is diminishing. In the scene with Liam and Mairin driving, she passes the richer area of town where the city’s many millionaires had once lived. Mairin also considers biking across the Peace Bridge, which crosses the Niagara River to Canada. All of these images echo a sense of change, movement, and a departure from entrenched cultural values.