I read this book in the 90s at the latest so it’s not new. It was an end of time book, at least YA if not adult. Several things happened in the first chapter but I remember it saying a woman was putting laundry on a line outside and gnomes or trolls came running down the mountain in hordes. They were described as being in a color she had never seen before but could only be described as fear? I’m not sure the wording but something to that point.

Sorry that’s all I remember. It drives me insane looking for it. Hope you can help!