What is the importance of Big Sur in the novel, Actress?

Big Sur is the location purported location where Norah's father crashes his car and dies. Although this story is implied to have been false, as Norah dispenses with it as a realistic lead in here search for her father's identity, it still plays a lasting role in Norah's imaginary landscape. Big Sur is the setting where she imagines her father's death. Norah takes comfort in the repeated imagination of this death, and this particular form of psychological behavior finds itself repeated in her relationships with other men.