Hotel Dahoma

Hotel Dahoma is the primary setting for the short story. The hotel is located in "the heart of an old fishing village on the northeast coast of Unguja, the largest island in the archipelago" (262). Pointer comes to the hotel at his sons' behest. Staying there allows him to detach from his life at the Somerset cottage. Not long prior to his arrival, a murder happened at the hotel. Pointer says that the incident does not bother him, but that it seems to affect Ned. At the end of his stay, Pointer is disappointed to be leaving, as this precipitates his return to his lonely life.

Somerset Cottage

Somerset is the county in England where Pointer lives when he is not traveling. When his sons, Richie and James, notice that Pointer is spending all of his time alone at the Somerset cottage, they urge him to take a...