First published 2008
The community gathers for their annual celebration, but this year something feels different. Old tensions simmer beneath the festive surface as neighbors who have known each other for decades discover they may not know each other at all. When long-buried secrets begin to surface during the festivities, the celebration becomes a reckoning. Aldiss places his characters at the crossroads between tradition and truth, where the rituals that once bound the community together now threaten to tear it apart. As the day unfolds, each person must choose between preserving comfortable illusions and facing uncomfortable realities. The story explores how celebrations can become mirrors, reflecting not just what we want to celebrate but what we fear to acknowledge.
Genres: fiction, drama, contemporary, 21st-century
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: secrets, small-town
Period: 21st-century
240 pages · Hardcover · NewCon Press