Trick or Treat

Something is buried deep in a northern English town in this novel of secrets, friendship, and long-simmering rivalries Former activists Olive and Arthur have been together for decades. They never married—they don’t believe in it. Now obese, Olive is given to violent mood swings, while Arthur tenderly watches over her. Widowhood suits Nell, who has lived here for fifty years. She has her pension and her house but misses her husband, Jim. And now the bane of her existence—her ex-con son, Rodney—has come home. Between the adjoining houses, eight-year-old Wolfe lives with his family. Petra, his mother, who dreamed about a wolf while carrying him, is pregnant with her fourth child. Wolfe misses the commune where they used to live. He hates Halloween—and with good reason. The advent of trick or treat will set tempers flaring across this remote pocket of urban grit and stunted industrial growth. As Wolfe starts to uncover his neighbors’ secrets, long-held jealousies and rivalries explode in a shattering act of violence that will reverberate through all of their lives.