Although the story spans four generations, the location remains the same, centred in Richmond, Victoria and the neighbouring suburbs. The labyrinth of the tenement housing in the suburbs close to Melbourne provide the perfect backdrop for Jordan’s tale that relies on the intimacy of community to connect her narrative.

Specifically, the Westaway family, whom the novel chronicles, reside in Rowena Parade. The home of the Westaway’s is seen as the heart of the family; it is where Kip and Francis were raised, and later is inherited by Stanzi and Charlotte and is where they choose to home Alec and Libby. It holds memories, both happy and sad but is inevitably the place where people are called to return to when they are struggling.

Nine Days moves from the early stages of World War 2 (1939-40) to the end of the war in 1945-46. Although Jordan remains unspecific about the pivotal events such as the bombing of Pearl Harbour and the dropping of the atom bombs in Japan, the effect of the war on the citizens of the close-knit outer suburb of Richmond, Victoria are felt in force. Jordan explores the struggles of life on the home front by alluding to certain luxuries that are no longer available due to the rationing put in place during the war, such as Annabel’s experiences with the mock Christmas pudding (p 175). Household consumption had to be regulated very efficiently, and often, cheaper options were all that was available.

Annabel also provides an insight into another reality that war imposed, that of women in the workforce. When war broke out, Annabel, like many other women, must take employment at the munitions factory, a job that was recently vacated as the soldiers enlisted, thus illustrating the challenges presented to those left behind on the ‘home front’. She also experiences the reality of women’s oppression when peacetime comes and the men return to their old work, observing that when ‘the men came home we girls got our marching orders’ (p 178); symbolising the social inadequacies present in the era.

Congruently, education had become a luxury only for those that showed academic promise; but boys like Kip were forced to leave their school prematurely to help earn money for their family in their father’s absence. This notion is exemplified even further through Connie who, as a girl, has even less opportunity in education and naturally begins to keep the house when the Westaway mother, Jean, has to return to work as a housemaid.

The chapters of Stanzi, Charlotte and Alec take place in the latter half of the 20th century and Jordan makes reference to pivotal events of terrorism which ignited the Middle Eastern conflict that began in Iraq in 2003. Many of Stanzi’s clients, such as Violet, are riddled with panic about the impending terrorist war and Stanzi attributes this to ‘the way the world is lately. The tensions – it’s enough to make cracks appear in anyone’ (p 41). Jordan’s insinuation is the same in that of the chapters that pre-date WW2 that a community’s reaction to global strife presents in its citizens and their behaviours. Violet’s naivety about the American involvement mirrors many of the time who believed the United States’ global superiority would triumph easily over the ‘whole Middle East’ (p 44), and her blasé attitude toward the immediate threat is something she dismisses.