The Gogol Hub

Hazel spends a full decade almost entirely in the Gogol Hub, the center of the Gogol corporation. Byron’s “house was intentionally in the middle of nowhere, as were Gogol’s most important ancillary buildings and the microcity that served its worker elite…Most regular employees worked in one of its city branches, but cities made Byron paranoid” (23). The Hub is an attempt to create a world that Byron can totally control, where brand labels other than Gogol’s are banned and the décor is cold and ascetic. Despite the almost unlimited funds at her disposal as Byron’s wife, Hazel is miserable during her years at the Hub, and its emphasis on impersonal space adds to her growing sense of isolation.

The Spotted Rose

After her years at the Gogol hub, where Byron would only allow top-shelf liquor and forbid the slightest trace of...