As the story begins, we almost feel sorry for Les as we catch glimpses of just how mentally unstable his wife, Marjory, happens to be. Something still tugs at the back of your mind, suggesting that Les can’t be all that well either, judging by how casually he seems to react to Marjory’s antics.
Unable to have a child together, the couple has tried everything, including pets. Les is desperate to do something to assuage his wife’s malfunctioning nesting instinct.
Enter Gary, a dwarf who thinks he’s on his way to a movie set where he’ll be portraying a child much younger than his thirty years. He’s about to enter a nightmare even the reader doesn’t suspect by walking through the door of Les and Marjory’s residence.
If you think it’s awful after Gary gets tucked in the first night, wait until you meet Spencer.
Hawker makes you question what might be going on behind the closed doors of residential neighborhoods everywhere. If we peek through enough windows, will we find something like this story playing out? I sure hope not, but I suspect Hawker might be onto something here, and he’s showing us the unclean, horrifying truth buried beneath the banality of everyday life.

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