Harrow Road Library

Harrow Road Library is one of the novel's primary settings. The library is located in Wembley, the English town in which the main characters live. Although the library has been an important fixture in the town for many years, in the narrative present, the community is worried that the library will not survive.

Aleisha gets a job at the library over summer break. Though she does not like the place at first, she soon finds that it is peaceful and offers her a refuge from her difficult home life. Harrow Road grants her both an escape from reality and a place to make new friends and form a community. In much the same way, the library offers Mukesh a realm in which he can belong. The more time he spends here, the more he gets to know Aleisha, the librarians, and his fellow reading companions. The...