Setting

The physical setting of the story “Home Is Not Here” by Laura Blake is an immigration office in England. The main character Birdie is summoned there so her immigration status can be reviewed to determine whether she has the right to remain in the UK or will need to return to Jamaica. 

The time setting is not explicitly stated. However, given that Birdie was born in 1948, and she is now seventy years old, it is likely that the story takes place around 2018.

The waiting room of the immigration office is described at the beginning of the story: 

The waiting room had not been designed with the comfort of its temporary inhabitants in mind. She was wedged between a woman bickering with her companion in hushed Chinese, and a pale, twitchy man with dark rings around his eyes. She could smell instant coffee, and weed, and Chinese food; the woman had retrieved a lunchbox fro...