New York

New York is the setting in which all of the novel takes place and it functions almost as a character in itself. Kate’s impression of New York is a place where everyone is constantly performing, whether it is the busker dragging a grand piano through the streets, an eccentrically dressed woman exercising in the park, or teenage boys singing and dancing on the subway. Kate succumbs to this desire to perform by adopting false personae during her time in New York, hinting at the essential superficiality of the eccentric and outlandish population of the city.

Bill and Inez’s Apartment

Bill and Inez’s apartment represents Bill’s past as he bought it with his ex-wife, Inez’s mother, while the area was still inexpensive and un-gentrified, but it has since massively increased in value and sits at the center of tourist activity in the city...