What is the importance of the Clapham roundabout in the novel, All Adults Here?

The Clapham roundabout is the heart of the town. The roundabout runs around a gazebo and several local businesses are situated around it. The most significant of these are Shear Beauty, which is where Birdie cuts hair, and Spiro’s Pancake house, an established diner. The novel opens with Astrid witnessing Barbara being hit by the junior high school bus outside of Shear Beauty. Elliot has purchased an empty building in the area that Astrid is preoccupied with but does not know belongs to Elliot. She fears that whatever business fills it will represent a threat to the town. The roundabout is also the center of the town’s Harvest Festival, an annual event that most of the characters attend towards the end of the novel.