The Stone Book series is set in rural Cheshire in a region of long ridges and "mosses," or boggy lowlands, within a mile of the village of Chorley. Garner accurately describes the local landscape and weather, but he emphasizes the time—which ranges from the 1860s to the 1940s—and culture of the setting, presenting his village family against the broad backdrop of history. For all their seeming isolation, Chorley and its people are touched by the same historical currents that wash through the outside world during the nine decades covered by the stories.