Saina's House in Helios, New York

Saina's refurbished farmhouse is perhaps the most stable setting in the entire novel. While the rest of her family undertakes their ill-fated road trip across the country, Saina is stationary. Her house represents both her fall from grace with the art world and a new beginning that she has not yet come to terms with. The house is aesthetically pleasing. From the outside, its bright blue shutters against the washed white exterior look like a call to the past, while the inside contains high-end and highly contemporary furnishings, such as clear plastic armchairs, that do not match the exterior's country charm. She realizes the house is a mistake and not a place where she will be able to reboot herself or her art, because her art depends on spectacle, but it also becomes an unexpected new homeland for the Wangs.

The Mercedes

Much...