Carignano

Carignano is Nanda Kaul's remote house on a ridge in the lower Himalayan village of Kasauli. Almost the entire novel takes place at Carignano. It is a minimalist dwelling with bare white walls and sweeping views of mountains and plains on all sides. The house has a tiled veranda with potted geraniums and fuchsias, and a garden with a few apricot trees and clumps of iris. Its most notable feature is its austerity. Nanda Kaul lives a solitary existence there, with Ram Lal and Raka.

The Vice-Chancellor's House

The Vice-Chancellor's house, in a small university town in Punjab, was where Nanda Kaul lived and raised her family when her husband, the Vice-Chancellor, was alive. The house was always full and bustling with guests, children, grandchildren, and servants. Nanda Kaul felt that it was an all-consuming job to run the house, and she grew to resent everyone—life there...