What is the setting of We Were the Mulvaneys by Joyce Carol Oates?

The beginning of the novel is set in the small town of Mt. Ephraim, New York and on High Point Farm, the Mulvaney family home. Both these places are initially described as a safe and warm place to live. The town is small enough that everyone knows everyone else; the farm big enough to support the dozens of animals that the family loves. Yet, it does not require the backbreaking work of a larger farm. However, both of these places shift in perception as the story moves along.