Seventeen-year-old Lucy Ryman's world seems to be crashing in around her. Childhood sweetheart James McIntyre decides to trade her in - for an older model. She discovers a secret that could tear her brother, Matt's, family apart. Her younger sister, Sarah, is out of control.

And Lucy herself is drawn to Kev Tanner. In the words of her brother, Danny: "Apart from the minor detail of being married with two kids, the guy is also a drunk, a junkie, and a pusher, not to mention a complete psycho."

And then there is Lucy's elder sister, Catherine, whose betrayal breaks Lucy's heart, and makes life even more complicated.

Set in the UK in the 1980s, this novel addresses important, and often controversial, subjects.