According to George H. Thomson’s calculations in A Reader’s Guide: Pilgrimage, Revolving Lightsis set between July and September 1903, nearly two years later the end of Deadlock, although there are several passages in Chapters 1 and 2 when there are flashbacks to events in 1902, particularly involving Leyton Orly, the young dentist in the practice on Wimpole Street where Miriam works, and several visits to Alma and Hypo Wilson [Amy Catherine and H. G. Wells in real life] the summer before.
Chapter 1. Though one of the longest chapters in the entire novel, this takes place entirely on one July evening. Miriam attends a meeting of the Lycurgan [read: Fabian] Society and afterwards reflects upon herself, on the attitudes of West End people, on her family. As she walks back to Mrs. Bailey’s boarding house on Tansley Street, she flashbacks to an Easter visit to the Wilsons the previous year and a discussion with Hypo about why she could not marry Michael Shatov. She recalls Leyton Orly’s engagement and a picnic with the Orlys the summer before. Passing through Piccadilly Circus, she stops in a coffee shop she has visited before, thinks about Michael, and recalls another visit to the Wilsons around the time of Leyton Orly’s wedding. She also recalls the return of Eleanor Dear, who is now married to another former boarder, Mr. Rodkin. Finally, walking up Shaftsbury Avenue, Miriam is repelled by an older woman she sees.
Chapter 2. This chapter opens on the following evenings, as Miriam visits a family of exiled Russian revolutionaries, the Lintoffs, with Michael Shatov. Afterwards, Miriam insists to Michael that their relationship cannot continue. Nevertheless, on the following day, she, Michael, and the Lintoffs walk to Hyde Park and then have tea together in a cafe. The chapter closes late the same day with Miriam alone in her room, which she sees as an “escape into the tireless unchanging centre” of her existence.
Chapter 3. This chapter centers on a long visit to the Wilsons, probably beginning on the August Bank holiday. Miriam meets Miss Prout, a successful novelist Hypo Wilson admires. On the last day of her visit, Miriam writes a review — perhaps her first published, if not credited, work — and plays tennis. Mr. Hartopp, another visitor, takes the place of Miss Prout and Miriam responds favorably to him.
Chapter 4. Back at work after her month’s holiday, Miriam thinks back to conversations with Hypo, who at one point attempted to become intimate with Miriam and then later expressed interest in a schoolgirl he knew. Miriam reflects on what the dental practice at Wimpole Street means to her, in part because Mr. Hancock plans to move to his own practice and wants Miriam to come with him. The book closes with Miriam at Mrs. Bailey’s, receiving a note from Hypo.