Garner County

Garner County is the setting the novel begins and ends in, and is also where Tierney has lived her whole life. The county is a place controlled solely by men, as women are forbidden from holding any high government or social positions. Since men hold all of the power in the county, women are oppressed in harmful and often violent ways. As religion and the church is a big part of the community, the church’s teachings on women’s weakness and immorality are highly influential on the social conditions of the county. At the center of the county stands the punishment tree, where women can be publicly punished or hanged for even the most baseless of accusations. Tierney resents the county’s teachings, which only worsens when she discovers it is the county that funds the poachers. When Tierney returns to Garner County after her grace...