In this challenging novel, where striking workers march among dreaming spires, the worlds of industry and learning collide as the Owen family are caught in a web of conflicts: of politics and sex, loyalty and independence, English lives and Welsh memories . Harold Owen and his brother Gwyn carved out a place for themselves when they came to work in a car factory in a university city but the calm of their lives is threatened when Harold s wife Kate makes a bid for independence, while a clash of values in work, politics and love confront their son Peter. How can the second generation, facing the start of the turbulent 1960s create a future which will not destroy their past?