Bookman’s Alley is a secondhand bookshop in Evanston, reached through an alley between a florist and a shoe-repair shop. Its dim, cool rooms, old books, and eccentric displays make it both a place of discovery and a setting where a quiet domestic moment reveals an unspoken rivalry around Clare.

Setting and Character

The route to the shop passes storefronts that have changed purpose: a former Marshall Field’s is now a sneaker outlet, and the former Varsity Theater is now a Gap. Turning into the alley and pushing open the door, Clare, Henry, and Gomez enter a space that seems to open onto the past. The shop’s atmosphere is conveyed through its close, material details: old paper, glue, carpets, and wood, and shelves arranged among objects that are as curious as the books.

The Shop and Its People

Roger, the proprietor, sits behind a small, untidy desk, talking with a white-haired man about chamber music. He greets Clare warmly and has set aside a Dutch catalog of decorative papers, complete with actual samples, knowing she will value it. Clare recognizes it as a find and places it beside the desk to begin a growing pile of books she wants. Roger generally dislikes customers handling unpriced stock, but Henry observes that he gives Clare unusual freedom in the shop.

The shop’s eccentric collections give the visit a lightly comic texture. In the Westerns section a saddle serves as a display object; a deerstalker’s cap sits among the mysteries. Gomez wanders among these oddities and takes a gumdrop from a large bowl in the children’s section, unaware that the sweets have been there for years and are hard enough to hurt someone. Henry heads directly for the printing and bibliophilic books, while Clare browses among the shelves.

A Moment of Discovery

Henry sees Clare seated in the art section, looking through a small red book. He notices her sunburn and short, untidy hair, and his attention fixes on her with an intensity he tries to contain. At the same time, he spots Gomez watching Clare from the mystery section. Gomez’s expression mirrors Henry’s own, making Henry recognize that his feelings are not his alone to perceive.

Clare looks up and shows Henry the book: a tiny collection of picture postcards of Pompeii. The small discovery becomes the visit’s emotional pivot. Henry puts an arm around her shoulders and straightens the strap that has slipped from her sundress. When he looks up again, Gomez has turned away and is studying the Agatha Christie books. In the shop’s crowded quiet, the postcard book marks Clare’s choice of Henry, while Gomez’s retreat leaves the unspoken triangle visible without turning it into an argument.

Narrative Significance

Bookman’s Alley brings together the novel’s interest in books, memory, and the present moment. Its used volumes and accumulated objects make the past physically close, while Clare’s find is modest and immediate: a little book of images that she shares with Henry. The scene also shifts Henry’s understanding of Gomez. Amid Roger’s special attention to Clare, the old shop’s peculiar displays, and the two men’s parallel attention to her, a book-buying visit becomes an intimate encounter that discloses what Gomez’s silence has left unsaid.