When she is seven years old, Dawn Napier is forced to live with strict adoptive parents in the desolate ex-mining community of Shinewater, situated on the outskirts of Lochgelly in Fife. Catherine and Michael Napier are very wealthy and they forbid her to make friends with the local children, so she has a heartbreakingly lonely upbringing. When she is nineteen she decides to bend the rules and has the time of her life getting to know a group of friends from the town. She suddenly becomes one of the in-crowd, has to deal with confusion over her sexuality, and then discovers that she has been lied to all along about her real parents’ history. After being sexually attacked by a gang of men, she faces the agonizing reality that nothing will ever be the same again. She struggles to decide who she should turn to and where this journey will ultimately lead her. After going down the destructive path of sex, alcohol, drugs and murder will she finally be able to gain the freedom from her own life that she craves so badly? Nicole Grieve chases dreams of rainbows, fights and teenage delights. But on the inside she’s screaming. She’s crying out for someone to come and take her away from her harsh life. She doesn’t realise that the one person who she really needs to make her forget about all of her pain and mistakes, is the baby she created from her own body. Her daughter, Alexa Harvey, is being raised by her teenage dad. Luke Harvey has done his best and he’s waiting patiently for Nicole to start to care, but how long can this last? Dawn and Nicole discover a link between them that threatens to open up an even wider rift between both their families. "It is excellent. A gripping, gritty read with real earthy characters, many of whom you can probably place as people you have encountered in your own lives. You can smell the stale lager and the fish and chips" - Paddi Broad, Portrait Artist