Virginia

The vast majority of the novel takes place in the colony of Virginia during the mid-1600s, and its machinations are concerned with the relationships formed in the early days of a colonial context. Virginia seems to occupy a strange middle ground—particularly for a man of color like Tony—between endless possibility and lifelong enclosure. At the same time as society becomes globalized and modern, institutions like indentured servitude and slavery begin to arrive in the colony and obligate many of its poorer inhabitants (and especially its inhabitants of color) to lifelong servitude. Charry deploys this often uncomfortable relationship between development and lack of freedom to critique the "melting pot" trope that has often been used to describe the American experiment, both modern and pre-modern, as well as to explore the theme of race in the novel.

The Coromandel

The Coromandel is an alluvial region of India...