The Global Hotel, late 1990s

The Global Hotel is the unifying structure for the events in this novel. One of a chain of international hotels, in an unnamed British city (it is hinted that it is north of the Scottish border in the book's epilogue), the hotel brings together its staff (Sara, Lise, Duncan), guests (Penny), and passers-through (Else, Clare). It is four storeys high, with a basement.

The main events within the hotel take place within four smaller settings. They are the fourth-floor corridor, where Sara climbed into the dumb waiter and fell to her death, and where Penny and Else find Clare; the hotel reception, where Lise works; Room 12, where Else will briefly stay (though she will not spend the night there); and Room 34, where Penny stays. Additional spaces include the "LBR" or the Left Behind Room, where Duncan hides during his shifts, and the basement, which...