Singapore, 2010

With its high concentration of wealth, hidden mansions, ceaseless whispering, and rigid social strata, Singapore is where most of the novel takes place. Like its residents, Singapore is presented as being overwhelming, showy, and dripping with wealth. Although it is a major city like New York or Cupertino—two places Rachel is familiar with—Singapore represents the major culture shock for Rachel throughout the novel. Despite being wildly dissimilar from Rachel and Nick’s normal, day-to-day life in New York, Singapore is also normal life for Nick. Nick’s adaptability between his two lives show the two conflicting sides of Nick: the frugal NYU professor and the likely heir of Tyersall Park.

Lodge in Malaysia, 2010

Nick plans to whisk Rachel away to his grandmother’s summer lodge in Malaysia to escape from his crazy family in Singapore and to ask Rachel to marry him. The lodge is where...