Broad Ripple

Broad Ripple is a neighborhood in Indianapolis, Indiana, that appears in the novel as the setting for a brief but resonant scene. On a sunny Saturday in April, a rarity for Indiana, Hazel and her mother visit the farmers' market there. The weather is warm enough that everyone wears short sleeves, even though the temperature does not quite justify it, and Hazel observes that Hoosiers are excessively optimistic about summer. They sit together on a bench across from a goat-soap maker, a man in overalls who must explain to every passerby that yes, they are his goats, and no, goat soap does not smell like goats. It is during this outing that Hazel receives a phone call from Augustus Waters, who has come to her house unannounced and is waiting for her on her front step. The scene at the Broad Ripple farmers' market thus marks a moment of ordinary, shared life between mother and daughter, interrupted by the arrival of Augustus and the beginning of a new phase in Hazel's story. The neighborhood itself is not described in further detail, but its function as a place of everyday community activity contrasts with the more medically charged settings of the novel, such as hospitals and the Support Group basement.