A Distant Home falls in the category of historical fiction, although the setting in Lane County, Kansas is an actual place: a farm outside the town of Dighton, Kansas. The story takes place in 1920 when western Kansas was nearly an empty plane, void of trees. The emily in paris cast story is based on facts about Paris' mother's life during the early years of her marriage. It is also about Paris' father and two uncles. Many of the events actually happened while others are strictly fiction. Paris changed the names of all the characters to, as he states, "protect the innocent."

Emily Maxwell, a high school principal from eastern Kansas, married David O'Malley and moved to western Kansas. The house she was promised was unfinished because of the 1919 failed wheat crop. She was forced to move into a crowded unfinished home with her extended family: Mother and Father-in-law, Brother-in-law, sister-in-law, and a nephew.