The Aveune Psychiatric Hospital

The Aveune Pyschiatric Hospital is Henry Beausang's place of employment where he, Cy and Grace conspire to blind her assailant, Malcolm Sedak, who is confined in the special security criminal ward.

The Bayview Hotel

The Bayview Hotel is Reeda Parks' 16-room seaside establishment on Morecambe Bay that caters to consumptives. With neighboring boarding houses, the Bayview resembled a poorly brushed row of lower teeth. By night it serves as Reeda Parks' and Muriel Preston's secret abortion clinic. Reeda liquidates it when she learns she has cancer and the proceeds from the sale finance Cy's move to America.

Brooklyn, N.Y.

Brooklyn is the largest of New York City's five boroughs to which Cy immigrates in 1933. Cy's apartment is in the multi-ethnic Sheepshead Bay section, while his seasonal tattoo booth is in Coney Island. At the time of the novel, Brooklyn's most beloved institution is...