The book begins around the year 1950 and continues through Paul's childhood, adolescence and adulthood, into the seventies. The story begins in Paul's hometown of Andover, Massachusetts and moves from his family' first home on High Street to their next home on Stratford Road. The setting moves as Paul's life progresses, to Paul's prep school in Andover, to his college years in Yale, through a trip to Cambridge and then back to Yale.