The Last Light Spoken is set in 1960 in the fictional town of Meridian, Ontario. Two friends recall their childhood there when they meet after fifty years of separation. When one of them dies suddenly, he leaves behind the manuscript of a short story about a tragic fire which took place in Meridian in 1959. The surviving friend, a novelist, then writes the account of both boys' dramatic coming of age many years before, using the short story to inspire his more detailed version of the village, the fatal fire, two love affairs--one innocent, one forbidden--and the cruelty of neighbours who take justice and morality into their own hands to administer punishment. The Last Light Spoken is a novel of love, cruelty and innocence harshly lost.