London

London is where the narrator and R live before their lives are upended by the birth of Z and the natural disaster that forces the evacuation of the British capital. In the novel, London symbolizes civilization and the need to evacuate from the city shows the breakdown of society. When the narrator returns to London and the end of the novel it symbolizes a new start for the civilization she thought had been destroyed.

G and N’s house

G and N’s house is the setting where R and the narrator flee after the evacuation of London. Their house is symbolic of the patriarchal values that defined the relationship between G and N: the same values that come to define the relationship between the narrator and R after the birth of their baby. Both of R’s parents die during their time in this setting making it...