The year is 1953 on the island of St Joseph. St Joseph, or St Joe as it is often called, is a Caribbean island to the east of Cuba. It has a long history of colonisation, most recently by the US in the early twentieth century. Now nominally a republic the government very much remains a vassal of the United States.
Most of the population are the descendents of West African slaves brought to the country during the plantation era and later freed during a slave revolt against the French in the early 19th Century. The small mixed race 'mulatto' population are overrepresented among the elite.
The official language of St Joseph is French but the majority of the population speak St Joseph Creole. Similarly, while the population is nominally Roman Catholic, many poorer people at least, also practice the syncretist religion of Vodou, combining Christian and West African elements.
The capital of St Joseph is St Joseph City. Along the north coast, to the west of St Joseph City, is the town of Cap Matelot. And further west still the unpaved road leads to Dame Marie du Nord, a fishing village founded some twenty five years ago on the site of a previous settlement destroyed in a hurricane. On the road into Dame Marie is the former Azagon Hotel, now some kind of private hospital. Beyond Dame Marie at the westernmost point of St Joseph is the town of Port Roche, beyond that is the island of St Albin, de facto US territory where they maintain a lighthouse, but disputed by St Joseph, as if there is anything they can do about it.