When a town on the edge of society hides its sin a Swinging Tree is born. Now, eleven-year-old, Oswald must save his enigmatic caretaker from the Tree’s ultimate justice.
A LIGHT MURMUR OF NOTHING, a literary, speculative fiction, is complete at 68,000 words, and will appeal to fans of Something Wicked This Way Comes, Ocean at the End of the Lane, and When a Monster Calls.
Legends, like Trees, sometimes grow in the strangest of ways, and with the wicked town of Wanda, it is no different. There, at the center of the crumbling division, the Swinging Tree’s gnarled branches cast a cursed shadow – walk in it and you are doomed, touch it and surely you will die. Yet, on overcast days, when the clouds cover the sun, the hangings take place. All are required to watch, even young Oswald Crofter, who gazes into his poppa’s eyes as he drops from the limb.
Now alone, Oswald fears he’ll be left to wander the streets, or worse, be thrown into the wasteland. Except, the notorious shopkeeper, Heavy Hannah, says he’ll be useful to her and takes him in. The town’s people don’t provoke Hannah, for she holds the power to inflict the Mark under the left eye of swindlers and cheats, however, for an exorbitant price, she will erase the painful stain with just a word. He worries she’ll give him the Mark, but soon a mother-son bond develops between them. During the day, he learns the store trade, while at night she lights a candle, mumbling over him until he falls asleep. Although Oswald isn’t sure he wants to learn, she intends to share the secrets of the Mark with him.
Meanwhile, Abbot Haggard, the town’s corrupt retainer, seeks notoriety by organizing a birthday celebration for the one thing their community is known for – the Swinging Tree. When Oswald collides with him in the street, it starts a chain of events leading to Hannah’s arrest for murder. Oswald blames himself. Unless he learns the mysteries of the Mark and the Tree, Hannah’s death will be the cherry-on-top to Wanda’s macabre festivities, and no amount of want will stop it.