The Broadhursts were a mining family and, to outsiders, they appeared to be happy, loyal and united. But it was Jinny – wife, mother, sister – who held them together. Her pride and her strength prevented their fears and hates from overwhelming them.

There was Jack, her younger son, trapped into marrying a shrew; and Lottie, her sister, who was not quite...normal. And there was Larry, the bright one and her favourite, the handsome one who was obsessed with the memory of the girl who had jilted him. She was married now, they said, and happily too. But now he was suffused with anger. He vowed she would not make a laughing-stock of him again. He would sacrifice anyone, family and friends alike, if he could only see Pam Turnbull again.