Fort Derry, Montana

Fort Derry, Montana, is the very small town where William, and also Sarah, grow up as children in the 1950's and teenagers in the 1960's. In William's adulthood, Fort Derry will come to represent warmth, peacefulness, and a sense of home. It is not a coincidence that, when William returns to Fort Derry for his father's funeral after many years away, he almost immediately leaves the gang's subversive political activities in Key West, and returns to a relatively normal life in Fort Derry. Fort Derry is small enough that some relatively basic business matters -- such as going to a therapist -- can only be done by making the long drive to Helena, a larger city in Montana.

William and Bobbi's house, 1990's

All of the chapters in the novel which are set in 1995 take place in William and Bobbi's house, which they share with their...