New York

New York is the setting where Plum lives and works as an adult. She leads an isolated existence in Brooklyn where she rents an apartment from a family member at below-market rates and writes in a nearby café, only rarely going anywhere else. New York itself seems to expand as Plum’s attitude to life expands and once she moves to Calliope House she regularly gets out and about in the city, experiencing much more than she did when she stayed confined within her small patch of Brooklyn.

Los Angeles

Los Angeles is the main setting during part two, “Alicia and Plum”, which takes place during Plum’s teenage years when she lived in Los Angeles with her mom and her aunt Delia. Los Angeles is an unhappy location for Plum because it is here that her lifelong commitment to restrictive dieting practices begins when she joins...