Chinese Handcuffs is set at Chief Joseph High School in Tree Folks, Washington.

Unlike Crutcher's other novels in which setting is important, setting is less important here perhaps because the tragic events in Chinese Handcuffs could happen anywhere.

The town is not so small or so isolated as there is an office of Child Protective Services, and Dillon is able to drive to a college to meet with Professor Newcomb.

In a way, the setting here seems psychological; the characters in this book are edging their way into the adult world. Dillon and Jennifer are, in many ways, teenagers only by the age on their driver's licenses.

The world they experience, full of pain, longing, and sorrow, is created by the actions of adults. Crutcher believes his role is to tell the truth. In Chinese Handcuffs, he does more than that: he explores the damage from the collision...