What is the setting of Brazzaville Beach: A Novel by William Boyd?

Three predominant settings provide the threads by which Brazzaville Beach is held together, by a fluid movement among all three. The first setting is London and the surrounding area, in which Hope has grown up and completed graduate study in biological science. It is within this setting that she meets and marries John Clearwater and begins to form her life activities based upon this relationship. Thus, she takes a low-paying position near London in order to remain with John, to support him and his important work, and to enjoy the bliss of newly married couples. In London, indeed, they enjoy the many entertainment opportunities and the excitement of both an academic and urban environment. London becomes less and less attractive to Hope, as her marriage deteriorates, as her husband descends into an abyss of intellectual stagnation and insanity, and as she spends more time on an old estate, dating plant life, in order to avoid facing the marriage difficulties.