How is London in the year, 1532, an important setting in the book, Afterlife: A Novel?

London, 1532, is an important setting because it is in this section that the author shows the reader what happened to the character Edmund to prompt him to go on a killing spree once he is in the Echo in order to survive. London in 1532 is portrayed as a harsh and cruel world, that does not treat its occupants that well and where horrors like murder and cannibalism can still occur not infrequently.