What are The Grove and The Cove in the novel, When Ghosts Come Home?

The Grove (home to Southport’s Black community) and Plantation Cove (Frye’s smart new development) are fictional places, separated by a shrinking expanse of woodland. Plantation Cove is a work in progress, comprising lofty, “expensive homes” but also houses still under construction (94). Frye is drawing in retirees from northern states, “who were in search of second homes where they could escape the snow” (212). In other words, the site represents upheaval and volatility by virtue of its detached and inconsistent settlers, as well as the chaos of the building projects still underway. Frye describes the Grove as a “shantytown,” but the insult is a reflection of his prejudices and his plans for expansion (100). Rather, it is a mixed neighborhood, ranging from the Bellamys’ respectable home to the trailer belonging to Cody’s family, on the edge of the woods. It is fundamentally ordinary in nature, with Colleen noticing small but lived-in homes, “their yards alive with flowers and ornaments” (231). Though the novel is set over only four days, it manages to condense and convey the long-term effects of the tension that builds up, as the space between these two territories gets smaller.