Hometown

The father, mother, and boy live in a small, unnamed town. This is the novel's primary setting. Although the author provides few identifying details about the town, the father acknowledges how small the place is. He and his wife often run into other parents from their birthing classes. The father also encounters Barb outside the context of the clinic, and realizes that he might soon run into patients from the clinic as well.

College

The college where the father teaches also remains unnamed throughout the novel. The father teaches fiction courses here. Allusions to his time in the classroom recur throughout the narrative, and remind the reader that the father spends a large portion of his time on campus. His relationships with writing, the classroom, and his students evolve once he becomes a father.

Clinic

When Luke is still young, the father decides to start volunteering at the...