Kiev

This is the first of two primary settings in Part 1 - specifically, the place where grandmother bear spends her childhood and young adulthood. The dangers of life under the repressive (totalitarian) Russian regime governing Kiev are the main reason that an escape is engineered for her.

Berlin  

This large city in Germany is the second setting for much of the action in Part 1; is a primary setting for Part 2; and is the city in which the zoo in Part 3 is located. Its history of being divided (for several decades after World War II) and then reunited (in 1990) forms an important socio-political backdrop for the narrative's action.

The Circus

Much of the action in Part 2, and a number of grandmother bear's memories in Part 1, are set within the environment of the circus in which Tosca and The Trainer work, and develop their relationship. Narration describes this particular circus as...