Asterisk denotes entries on real places.
Convent
*New York City. City in which four of the women in the retreat group work and live, and two of them marry. Populated with millions, New York City is a lonely place for single women, and loneliness is one of the things that drives the five women to the religious retreat, where they become friends.
Orano. Fictional farming town in western New York State that is the birthplace of Father Cyprian and his home after he returns there in 1959. A few years later, the women from his New York City retreat begin spending their vacations in Orano. Its small-town warmth is a contrast to the indifferent atmosphere of the big city. During the tumultuous 1960’s and 1970’s, Orano is also an oasis from the troubled demonstrations and stormy political environment of the city.
Though tranquil and peaceful on the surface, however, Orano has its underlying realities as evidenced by Father Cyprian who, in a moment of cruel pique, forces Felicitas to experience the foul stench of farm animal excrement. Also, the beautiful countryside belies the underlying poverty of the community and reflects the underlying emotions of the protagonists, each jealous of the other, each vying for Cyprian’s attention during their vacations. Eventually, Orano does measure up to the positive image of small towns everywhere and brings solace and refuge to Felicitas, the daughter Charlotte conceives while she is a student at Columbia. At the story’s end, the women settle in the farming community and find the peace they sought in New York City, where they first met at the religious retreat.
*Worcester (WEW-ster). Massachusetts city in which Muriel lives. The only woman of the group who does not reside in New York City, Muriel lives with her mother, whom she takes care of, and works as a typist. She is as lonely in Worcester as the women who live in New York City. After her mother dies, she builds a house in Orano and lives next door to Cyprian for six months of the year.
*Columbia University. New York City university to which Charlotte’s daughter, Felicitas, transfers from St. Anne’s College during the late 1960’s. Her pursuit of classical studies–the reason for her transfer–becomes less important to her than experiencing real life and fitting in with her peers. Her sheltered background of Catholic schools and vacations spent with her mother, her mother’s women friends, and an aging priest do not prepare her for college life in a big city. In 1970 the Vietnam War is on, and the word “hippie” is new to the language. Naïve Felicitas revels in her new-found friends and freedom but is seduced by a professor. Surprisingly, her resulting pregnancy is not only supported by the older women, but Father Cyprian welcomes them all back to live in Orano.