Explore the real-world places that appear in Heaven by Angela Carter. Each location on the map shows what happens there in the novel, the real history of the place, and what's there today. Featured locations include Whitechapel District, The Thames Embankment, Tower Bridge, Music Hall District (Limehouse), St. Paul's Cathedral and 9 more.
East End, London — Site of Jack the Ripper murders
The Whitechapel murders cast a long shadow over the narrative, serving as a historical backdrop that informs the novel's exploration of violence against women. The legendary killer's brutality echoes through the story as Carter examines how society treats female victims and perpetrators. The district represents the dark underbelly of Victorian London where Fevvers and other women navigate survival.
Whitechapel was a densely populated working-class area in the East End. Between 1888 and 1891, Jack the Ripper murdered at least five women there, creating one of history's most infamous crime sprees. The unsolved murders became a cultural obsession and symbol of urban danger.
Whitechapel remains a vibrant multicultural neighborhood. The area has gentrified significantly but retains its working-class character. The Whitechapel Gallery, founded in 1901, is now a major contemporary art museum showcasing emerging artists.
Visit: Whitechapel Gallery (museum)
South Bank, Westminster — River walk and meeting place
Fevvers and Lizzie encounter Walser along the Thames Embankment, where the river provides a liminal space between London's respectable and criminal underworlds. The embankment becomes a place of revelation where characters' true identities and secrets are exposed. The river itself functions as a boundary between different moral and social zones in the novel.
The Thames Embankment was constructed between 1862 and 1874 as part of a grand Victorian engineering project to manage the river, improve sanitation, and provide recreational space. It became one of London's most famous public promenades during the late 19th century.
The Embankment remains one of London's most popular riverside walks, featuring historic lampposts, benches, and access to the river. It connects major attractions like the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, and the London Eye, serving millions of visitors annually.
Visit: Thames Embankment (park)
Tower of London, East End — Symbol of London's infrastructure
Tower Bridge looms in the cityscape as a symbol of Victorian engineering and London's grandeur. The bridge marks the boundary between different social strata in the novel, separating the respectable West from the marginal East where many characters conduct their illicit dealings. Its gothic towers embody the novel's interest in the double nature of Victorian society.
Tower Bridge was completed in 1894, just as Carter's novel begins. Designed by John Wolff Barry and Horace Jones, it combined medieval aesthetics with Victorian engineering, becoming an instant iconic symbol of London.
Tower Bridge is one of the world's most recognizable landmarks and a major tourist attraction. The bridge's bascule mechanism still raises for river traffic, and the exhibition inside tells the story of its construction and operation. Over 40 million people have visited since it opened to tourists in 1982.
Visit: Tower Bridge Exhibition (historic site)
East End, Limehouse — Theater and performance venues
Fevvers, the winged woman and former prostitute, performs as a circus attraction in music halls throughout London's East End. The Limehouse area becomes synonymous with theatrical performance and working-class entertainment where Fevvers gains fame as 'The Siren of the Spheres.' Walser follows her through these venues, obsessed with uncovering whether her wings are real or merely an elaborate illusion.
The East End, particularly Limehouse, was a hub of Victorian music halls and working-class entertainment. These theaters catered to local audiences with variety shows, acrobats, and performers. Limehouse was also a notorious area for immigrant populations and opium dens.
Limehouse has undergone significant gentrification and is now known for its historic converted warehouses, expensive apartments, and the Limehouse Cut canal. While few original music halls remain, the area is home to various cultural venues and is part of the fashionable East End regeneration.
City of London, Ludgate Hill — Religious and architectural landmark
St. Paul's Cathedral represents the respectable, official London that stands in contrast to the criminal and theatrical underworld where Fevvers operates. The cathedral's grandeur symbolizes Victorian morality and social order, which the novel consistently undermines and subverts. The dome of St. Paul's is visible throughout London, representing the omnipresent moral authority that characters either resist or question.
The current St. Paul's Cathedral was completed in 1697 after the Great Fire of London in 1666. Designed by Sir Christopher Wren, it became the symbol of London's resilience and renewal. The cathedral has hosted major state events and royal ceremonies throughout its history.
St. Paul's Cathedral remains one of London's most iconic buildings and the principal church of the Church of England in London. It welcomes over one million visitors annually and continues to host religious services, state occasions, and public events. The Whispering Gallery and Golden Gallery are popular tourist destinations.
Visit: St. Paul's Cathedral (historic site)
East End, Lower Thames Street — Working-class commerce
Billingsgate Market represents the gritty, working-class reality of East End London where ordinary people labor and survive. The market environment embodies the economic struggle and marginality experienced by characters like Fevvers before her theatrical transformation. The market's chaos and vitality contrast with the orderly respectability of West End society.
Billingsgate has been London's primary fish market since medieval times, operating at its original location on the Thames since at least the 15th century. By the Victorian era, it was a vast, chaotic hub of commerce employing hundreds of workers and traders, famous for its rough language and colorful characters.
Billingsgate Fish Market relocated to the Isle of Dogs in 1982 and remains Britain's largest fish market, operating since 5 a.m. most mornings. The original riverside location is now a listed historic building occasionally used for events and exhibitions.
Visit: Old Billingsgate Building (landmark)
Central London — Banking and capitalist enterprise
The City represents the capitalist machinery and masculine authority that both creates and profits from the marginalization of women like Fevvers. High finance and banking are associated with the criminal schemes and exploitative systems that Fevvers must navigate and ultimately outwit. The City's institutions represent the power structures that women must either infiltrate or destroy.
London's financial district developed gradually from medieval times but became the center of global financial power during the Victorian era. By the 1880s-1890s, the Bank of England, Stock Exchange, and major trading houses made the City the world's undisputed financial capital.
The City of London remains one of the world's leading financial centers, though now dominated by modern skyscrapers alongside historic buildings like the Bank of England and Royal Exchange. It is a distinct administrative entity with its own government and maintains many medieval traditions and ceremonies.
Visit: Bank of England Museum (museum)
City of London, Medieval Street — Commerce and business
Cheapside represents Victorian London's bustling commercial world where goods, information, and people are bought and sold. The street's business and commerce echo the transactional nature of relationships in the novel, particularly Fevvers' own commodification as a spectacle. The street's activity reflects the novel's preoccupation with exchange and value.
Cheapside has been one of London's major markets since medieval times, deriving its name from the Old English 'ceap' meaning 'to buy.' By the Victorian era, it was lined with major stores and was one of London's busiest commercial streets, destroyed in World War II and rebuilt.
Cheapside remains a major London street filled with modern shops, restaurants, and office buildings. The street still retains historical plaques marking its medieval past. The Great Fire Monument, which commemorates the 1666 fire that destroyed the area, stands nearby.
Visit: Monument to the Great Fire of London (landmark)
West End, Covent Garden — Professional theater and entertainment
Drury Lane and the West End theater district represent the pinnacle of London's respectable entertainment industry, in stark contrast to the music halls and penny gaffs where Fevvers performs. The contrast between West End legitimacy and East End marginality drives much of the novel's class commentary. Theater becomes a metaphor for performance, illusion, and identity transformation throughout the narrative.
Drury Lane Theatre opened in 1663 and became one of England's most prestigious theaters. By the Victorian era, the West End theater district was the center of London's legitimate stage, home to major dramatic productions and musical theater catering to middle and upper-class audiences.
Drury Lane Theatre remains operational and is one of London's West End's most famous venues, regularly staging major theatrical productions. The Theatre Royal Drury Lane continues its 350+ year tradition of presenting plays and musicals to audiences of thousands.
Visit: Theatre Royal Drury Lane (theater)
Soho, West End — House of Pleasure and Control
Fevvers begins her career in Madame Josephine's brothel before becoming a circus attraction. The establishment represents the commodification and control of women's bodies, though the novel ultimately presents Fevvers as an agent who uses her sexuality strategically rather than as a victim. Madame Josephine's represents the Victorian underworld where women negotiate survival within systems designed to exploit them.
Soho was London's historical red light district during the Victorian era, home to numerous brothels, massage parlors, and houses of ill repute. The area was notorious for its immigrant populations, including French and Italian communities, and was associated with vice, crime, and sexual commerce.
Soho has transformed into a vibrant cultural district known for independent cinemas, restaurants, theaters, and LGBTQ+ venues. While sex work persists discreetly in the area, it is now primarily associated with arts and culture rather than explicit sex work.
East End, Tower of London — Medieval fortress and symbol of power
The Tower of London looms as a symbol of institutional power and male authority. The fortress's history of imprisonment, torture, and execution informs the novel's darker themes about how power operates through violence and containment. The Tower represents the patriarchal systems that Fevvers must ultimately escape or transcend.
Built by William the Conqueror in 1066, the Tower of London has served as a royal residence, prison, and execution site throughout its 950-year history. The Tower witnessed the imprisonment and execution of queens, nobles, and political prisoners. It became a symbol of monarchical power and authority.
The Tower of London is one of Britain's most popular historical tourist attractions, hosting over three million visitors annually. It houses the Crown Jewels, historic buildings, museums, and exhibits explaining its dramatic history. Yeoman Warders (Beefeaters) guide visitors through its medieval structures.
Visit: Tower of London (historic site)
West End, Central London — Public space and social display
Hyde Park serves as a liminal space where different social classes encounter each other, where Fevvers might be observed by the respectable public. The park represents Victorian society's attempt to create ordered, civilized public spaces where social hierarchies are on display. Characters traverse the park as they navigate London's social landscape.
Hyde Park was enclosed as a royal hunting ground by Henry VIII in the 1530s and opened to the public in 1637. By the Victorian era, it had become London's premier public park where the upper classes rode horses, displayed their carriages, and engaged in social promenade. The park was also site of major public gatherings and protests.
Hyde Park remains one of London's most beloved public spaces, featuring The Serpentine lake, numerous memorials and monuments, and hosting concerts, demonstrations, and public events. Over 8 million people visit annually, making it one of London's top attractions.
Visit: Hyde Park (park)
Bloomsbury, West End — Temple of knowledge and collections
The British Museum embodies Victorian knowledge, classification, and control. The museum's collections represent Western civilization's claim to understand and possess the world's treasures. Fevvers, as a spectacle and curiosity, exists in a similar relationship to the museum's visitors as the museum's colonial acquisitions—beautiful objects to be viewed, catalogued, and possessed by male authority figures.
Founded in 1753, the British Museum is one of the world's oldest museums and contains over eight million objects spanning human history. The current building opened in 1847 and became a symbol of Victorian learning, empire, and cultural authority.
The British Museum remains one of the world's most visited museums, hosting over 6 million visitors annually. The Great Court, redesigned in 2000, is one of London's most iconic public spaces. The museum continues to be central to debates about colonial acquisition and repatriation of cultural artifacts.
Visit: British Museum (museum)
West End, Central London — Urban spectacle and commerce
Piccadilly Circus embodies the urban spectacle, commercialism, and public display central to the novel's exploration of performance and illusion. The Eros monument presides over the circus, creating a sacred space of commerce and sexual allure. Fevvers, as a spectacle herself, exists within the same economy of desire and exhibition that defines Piccadilly Circus.
Piccadilly Circus developed in the 19th century as London's entertainment and advertising hub. The iconic Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain with its 'Eros' statue was erected in 1893, celebrating the Victorians' idealization of love and beauty while simultaneously creating a commercial spectacle.
Piccadilly Circus remains one of London's most visited public spaces and a major shopping and entertainment destination. The Shaftesbury Memorial still presides over the circus, which is now dominated by massive digital advertising screens that represent modern spectacle.
Visit: Piccadilly Circus (landmark)
More by Angela Carter: All Angela Carter books
More novels set in London: Browse all London books on Map A Story
Other nearby maps: Patriot Games by Tom Clancy locations map · The Time Machine by H.G. Wells locations map · The Italian Girl by Iris Murdoch locations map · The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman locations map