There are two major settings in the novel: Sag Harbor on Long Island, New York, and Zurich, Switzerland. Perhaps because Sag Harbor was already described in Fat: ALove Story, the author assumes the reader is sufficiently familiar with this location and therefore does not provide much additional information. Some of Rita's comments about her hometown in this novel are derogatory, as when she says Sag Harbor is part of the Hamptons and "it is the tackiest Hampton of them all." Later she identifies the town for a telephone operator and says, "Sag. As in his spirits sagged." In both cases, the remarks say as much about Rita's depressed state of mind as they do about the town.

This is particularly evident in the final pages of the novel; when Rita returns to Sag Harbor from overseas she marvels at "how nice" everything looks—a statement that mirrors...