Using Setting to Maximum Effect

The Write Way Café welcomes author Bo Kearns, who shares his thoughts on where to begin a novel, and using setting to maximum effect. 

Graham Greene is one of my favorite novelists. In most of his books, he places an expat in an exotic locale and weaves a story of intrigue around their attempts to adapt to a different culture. Some of his classics include: The Quiet American set in Vietnam, The Comedians in Haiti, The Power and the Fury in Mexico and Our Man in Havana.  He’s a master at capturing setting and the local culture. In his novels, setting is a character. 

Prior to becoming a writer, I was an international banker. I lived in countries meant to be the backdrop for a Graham Greene story. One of those countries was Indonesia with its culture of mysticism, magic and superstition, is Indonesia. And that is the setting of my novel Ashes in a Coconut. 

The story is set in 1983’s Jakarta, a glamorous and perilous place of corruption, mysterious curses, seductive servants, ravaged rainforests, ancient Buddhist temples, and orphaned orangutans. In the story, Manhattan fashion designer Laura Harrison sets aside her career to accompany her banker husband Jack to Indonesia. 

I struggled with where to begin the story—Manhattan or Indonesia. In my early drafts, I assumed the reader would want to know everything about the characters. Manhattan provided that introduction, but not much of a hook. So I decided to begin the story in Bali, Indonesia to bring the reader closer to the action. This also served to ground the reader in the story locale. Backstory would be introduced when the reader needed to know something about the characters pertinent to that scene, and parceled out so as not to slow the pace.   

Here’s Ashes opening line—Laura Harrison stood outside the Denpasar International Airport and fingered the beads on her necklace. Though seemingly inconsequential, that simple act introduces the protagonist, her distraction, and provides a hint of foreboding. In the heat and humidity her damp silk blouse clung to her body. In the line that follows, Laura and the reader are introduced to the tropics and its discomfort. Weather as setting can be used to establish a mood, and act as story unifier. Weather affects all characters. 

In the process of writing the book, I attended several writers’ conferences. At one I participated in a first page manuscript critique. A question asked was, “Why is she there?” That prompted me to add the sentence, The island paradise was only a stopover en route to Jakarta. There she would be beginning a new life in a place she’d never been, leaving everything behind to save her marriage. The reader knows the protagonist goal, what’s at stake and can track whether she accomplishes what she’s set out to do in the face of the inevitable obstacles along the way.  

The couple arrives at the Seminyak Kebun Resort in Bali and are welcomed by a vast manicured lawn and swaying palms. “How beautiful!” Laura said. Her spirits rose. “The perfect place for a second honeymoon.” This setting changes her mood. At the registration desk, Laura sees blossoms in a small woven palm-leaf tray and picks one up to inhale the fragrance. “It’s an offering to keep away evil spirits,” the clerk said. “Oh,” Laura replied. She set the flower down and moved away. And here setting introduces Laura to the country’s culture of superstition.   

Laura and Jack follow a bellboy to a thatched-roof bungalow fronting onto a tranquil beach. Laura walks around admiring, touching. Outside in the lush walled garden, Laura notices movement off to the side. A hammock swung though the air was perfectly still. Hugging her arms across her chest, she rushed inside. Laura is superstitious by nature. In her new environment her superstitions and premonitions rise to the surface. 

From Bali, Laura and Jack move on to Jakarta. Laura expects their new home to be like something out of a classic Bogart movie—a romantic tropical hideaway where she and Jack can be happy. Instead… Laura steps into a dark room and the smell of mildew. Green velvet drapes with yellow fringe cover the windows, an oil painting of a dour knight in armor on a white stallion gazes down from the wall. The furnishings are covered in white sheets, resembling a gathering of ghosts. By using vivid, detailed description, the reader is pulled into the scene. It feels real. The prospect of residing in a spooky house becomes one of Laura’s first obstacles. And that’s amplified when she senses someone died there. 

As Jack leaves for his first day as president of a bank, Laura waves good-bye. The servant girl appears and locks the gate, a symbol of Laura’s isolation. Reality sets in. She’s in a third world country where she’s not allowed to work, can’t speak the language and doesn’t know anyone. 

At the bank Jack confronts his own set of issues. On his first day, he learns that a borrower defaulted on a million dollar loan and the case is being tried in the court. The judge wants $30,000, a bribe, to give the bank a favorable ruling. Jack, ambitious yet naïve, finds himself confronted by corruption. That setting and the decisions he makes in confronting graft and corruption will define his character. 

Laura struggles to find something meaningful to do. She recalls the menagerie of pets she had growing up in Connecticut. She goes to the Jakarta bird market hoping to find a small bird to perch on her finger and keep her company. Instead she encounters a sordid scene. There are birds and many other caged creatures—bats, small jungle cats, pangolins and snakes. She walks around and then can’t take it anymore. On leaving, a man taps on the car window. He whispers, “Baby monkey. Come see.” Curious, Laura follows him to his stall. She’s appalled to see a baby orangutan chained to a crate. It’s for sale. Laura drops to her knees. The baby twirls Laura’s red locks in its fingers. “He thinks I’m his mother,” she says. Appalled, she flees the scene, the baby’s cries resounding in her ears. In that scene setting, Laura finds her passion—saving endangered primates and their rainforest habitat. And this advances the story. In addition, the story’s underlying theme of conservation is introduced. There have been many non-fiction books written about conservation and the environment. In Ashes I hope readers might be subtly drawn to those issues through an intriguing story with relatable, sympathetic characters. 

As shown, setting can be more than just a descriptor. Used effectively, setting can advance the story, it can be the story, it can drive the action, define and change characters, convey mood and tone, and subtly echo a theme. 

To save her marriage, Laura Harrison accompanies her husband Jack to Indonesia where he is to take over as president of troubled bank; but when her premonitions become reality, events spin out of control.

Laura expects their new home in Jakarta to be a romantic hideaway like something out of a classic Bogart movie. Instead she walks into a house of horrors. White sheets cover Gothic furnishings, and black garments hang in the closets. It’s as if the former occupants had fled from some danger. Despite feelings of doom, Laura is determined to make things work. At the local market she’s appalled to see a baby orangutan for sale, its mother having been killer by loggers. She resolves to save the endangered primates and their rainforest habitat. As Laura attempts to grow closer to her husband, they become at odds over his shady business dealings. And when his secrets and life of lies are revealed, Laura finds herself alone and responsible for her own destiny.

Amazon        Barnes & Noble        Indiebound

"...an intriguing page-turner."—Kirkus Reviews

“…I will warn you the writing is so good that you will be left wanting more….

I can't wait for the next book.” —The Mary Reader

“…Ashes in a Coconut weaves a tale of corruption, betrayal, and ultimately redemption that had me marveling at the resiliency of the characters to the very last page. A wonderful debut!”­­­—Reyna Marder Gentin, author of Unreasonable Doubts

Bo Kearns, journalist and writer of fiction, is the author of Ashes in a Coconut, a suspense novel set in Indonesia, where he lived for three years. He is a feature writer with NorthBay biz magazine and the Sonoma Index-Tribune newspaper. His short stories have won awards—First Prize- Napa Valley writing contest, Honorable Mention-Glimmer Train Fiction Open competition, Finalist- Redwood Writers On the Edge genre competition. Other works have been published in the annual California Writers Club Literary Review, Napa Valley Writers First Press, The Red Wheelbarrow Literary Magazine and Sonoma: Stories of a Region and Its People. He is a UC Naturalist, beekeeper, avid hiker and active supporter of conservation causes. He lives in the wine country of Sonoma with his wife and rescue dog Jake. https://www.bokearns.com/