America

America is the broad-strokes, primary setting for the narrative. Its documented history and contemporary attitudes towards those perceived as "other" - specifically, non-Caucasians (particularly Arabs) and non-heterosexuals - forms a moral and socio-cultural context for much of the novel's plot and thematic developments.

San Francisco

This city in California is the primary local setting for the narrative. The entirety of its present-day action and a substantial portion of the action set in the past take place there. This particular setting is significant because for several decades, up to the present day, San Francisco has been viewed and experienced as a center of sexual freedom and liberal thought, both of which seem to have been important to Jacob when he moved to America, offering him a haven of safety after a childhood of abuse, denial, and absent parenting.

The Arab World

Jacob's childhood and youth were spent in various...