Pucking Sweet

Jacksonville, Florida, the home of Emily Rath’s fictional Jacksonville Rays, is the most populous city proper in Florida (though the Miami-Dade County area contains nearly double Jacksonville’s population) and the 10th most populous city in the United States (“Largest US Cities by Population 2024.” World Population Review, 2024). Jacksonville was established in 1822, shortly after the United States acquired Florida from Spain, and was named after US President Andrew Jackson.

Jacksonville is in northern Florida, close to the southern border of Georgia, and therefore enjoys a more temperate version of Florida’s hot and humid climate. However, the weather remains relatively warm throughout the year, reaching freezing temperatures only a few times throughout the year. This is reflected in Pucking Sweet by the characters’ frequent reference to trips to the beach, which the protagonists’ son Bennett enjoys year-round. Although close to the eastern coast of Florida, Jacksonville is far enough inland to see less frequent instances of devastation from hurricanes than some other areas of Florida. 

Pucking Sweet also plays with Florida’s reputation as being “America’s class clown,” or a state filled with oddball personalities (Silman, Jon. “Why America Is So Obsessed With Florida.” VICE, 4 July 2016).