One morning a librarian finds a reader who has been locked in overnight.

She begins to talk to him, a one-way conversation full of sharp insight and quiet outrage. As she rails against snobbish senior colleagues, an ungrateful and ignorant public, the strictures of the Dewey Decimal System and the sinister expansionist conspiracies of the books themselves, two things shine through: her unrequited passion for a researcher named Martin, and an ardent and absolute love for the arts.

A delightful divertissement for the discerning bookworm...

"'We're in Anita Brookner territory here ... Sophie Divry brilliantly captures the voice of a frustrated lady librarian past her prime' Katie Law, Evening Standard." - Evening Standard

"'It's funny, sad, and agreeably discursive ... There isn't a dull page or even a dull sentence ... In short, this is a very accomplished and delightful debut' Allan Massie, Scotsman." - Scotsman