The narrator is August Brill, an elderly book reviewer living out his days and sleepless nights in a house in Vermont that he shares with his daughter, Miriam, and granddaughter, Katya.

Charmaine West, (daughter of Fred’s previous wife Rena), who was murdered in June 1971, was buried at the Wests’ previous home of 25 Midland Road, Gloucester.

Part of the construction was sound-proofed and this section is where it is believed the two daughters, now aged 11 and 15 and called Scarlett or Starlite and Angel, were born.