Tim Winton’s fictional town of White Point, Western Australia, is a character central to the plot, tone, and structure of the novel. White Point is located roughly five hours north of Perth, nestled in a lagoon filled with seagrass. The town exists because of the sea, its utter dependence on the ocean a blessing and curse that traps the townspeople between the realization that the town is toxic and their inability to abandon the stunning, bounty that accompanies it.

Directly to the north of White Point is Kalbarri National Park, further isolating the small town and intensifying its appeal to the locals, who linger in an outdated worldview filled with bigotry and distrust.

Luther Fox travels from White Point to the fictional Coronation Gulf by foot, hitchhiking, and, eventually, by prop plane. The landscape he covers includes coastal dunes and grasses, a barren, desert, a slowly blossoming plain, and eventually, a dense, humid jungle. By crossing through the varied and changing terrain, Lu is, measure by measure, going through the stages of grief as he grapples with the tragic loss of his family and their tarnished legacy in White Point. Nature instructs, heals, and revives Lu, though processing his past in such a remote area nearly kills him.