TIGHTROPE WALKERS, THE

'I was born in a hovel on the banks of the Tyne...'

Dominic Hall grows up in the sixties on a brand-new estate, along with the other families who escaped the river. But the Tyne is still an overwhelming presence, and most of the fathers work in the shipyards. Dom is torn between his new mates: Holly Stroud, his enchanting neighbour, and Vincent McAlinden, who's something else altogether - a wild, dangerous boy with murderous instincts.

After his mother's death, Dom has to decide who he is, what he wants to be - and then face up to the consequences.