Trolley Days is the story of two boys growing up in a great New England industrial city in the nineteen-teens. Jack Bernard, son of a mill worker who emigrated from Canada, is shy and socially a bit awkward; Tom Wellington, son of the mill owner, is self-assured and smooth-talking. For all their differences, the pair have much in common. They love fishing, sports, and riding the trolleys that ply city streets and country roads. Each family has been touched by tragedy, wounds of the heart that are slow to heal.

In Chapter 1 Jack is bound for Boston as a blizzard approaches. Tom is in trouble, and while the pair have barely spoken in nearly six months, in Jack's mind Tom is still his best friend, and no snowstorm will prevent him from going to his aid. Soon they will be plunged into a baffling mystery, even as Tom's life hangs in the balance.

Does friendship have its limits? Can bonds of trust, once broken, be repaired? Can we learn from life's tragedies and move on, or must we carry them like lead weights on our hearts forever? In Trolley Days, it seems it is the young who bear the heaviest of life's burdens and must marshal the strength to free themselves and their parents.