San Francisco

Large swaths of the novel are set in San Francisco, California. This is the setting where Jin and Lidija meet at the start of the novel. They are both attending their mutual friend Irving Noth's party and end up spending the entire night in conversation. The two remain in the city for the majority of the novel, and spend intermittent bouts of time together. Both women are also in flux and do not feel settled in this setting. Lidija is eager to return to ballet and Jin longs to return to New York to reclaim her artistic path.

New York

New York is the city where Jin and Philip were living prior to relocating to California. Throughout the narrative present, Jin often thinks about New York and her former life there. Therefore, many of the novel's scenes of flashback are set in this East Coast metropolis. For...