East Berlin

The majority of the novel takes place in East Berlin. Set in 1980s Germany, the novel depicts Katharina's life during the time of the Berlin Wall. At the start of "Box I," Katharina is just 19 years old in 1986. Therefore, she has never known a world where Germany is united and where the Wall does not exist. For these reasons, East Berlin feels familiar and comfortable to Katharina. This is the place she has come to call home, and the place by which she has learned to define her personal and national identity.

When the Wall falls in 1989, Katharina experiences bittersweet emotions. The destruction of the Wall is positive for reasons of which Katharina is aware. However, because the Wall has been such a fixture in her life, Katharina fears a world in which East Germany no longer exists. After she returns to her city from Venice, she...