Set in the mid-20th century, Amongst Women explores the aftereffects of Ireland’s War of Independence and the changes the country went through as the Republic of Ireland built its own nation.

Moran, the central character of the novel, is a veteran of the Irish War of Independence. This war was fought between 1919 and 1921 and ended with the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921. The War of Independence was fought between the Irish Republican Army (IRA), a militia military, and the British Army. However, the War of Independence was complicated by a simultaneous civil war, as there were Irish people who fought on the side of the British. A militia nicknamed the Black and Tans was funded and supported by the British Army to wreak havoc on the IRA during the war. Thus, the Irish War of Independence was difficult and complex. When the IRA won the war, they brought an end to centuries of colonization and oppression at the hands of the British. However, many British loyalists in the North of Ireland wanted to remain part of Great Britain. This led to the official division of the island of Ireland into the Republic of Ireland (independent of Great Britain, consisting of 28 counties) and Northern Ireland (under British rule, consisting of eight counties).