 Castles incorporates the physical location not only as descriptive content in her novels, but to set the emotional tone of scenes, create tension and move the plot along.The river separates the characters in the "River Baptists" by flowing between them, and it forces them to meet when they use the ferry or need to travel across the river to the township.It gives the illusion of independence to the characters by separating them the community, but it also isolates when there are threats or danger.