The Quarry'Halls' stories show that even in zero hour austerity battered Britain the tenderness and warmth of human connection exists. The Quarry is in the end a testament to this messy truth how love hate hope and fear have always lived on the same street' GLEN BROWN author of Ironopolis You can see it in them; all that anger inside it's toxic. Throw some drink into it and everything bubbles over. People say that they never see it coming the swing of the fist

Mabel and M'elle Codon twin sisters whose lives have taken very different paths Magdalena daughter of Mabel who nurses an unrequited love for Babylon and Allegory the wise old man who adheres to tradition

Ebo's epic journey takes him across the Sahara Desert to the dangerous streets of Tripoli

as the merry minstrels play matchmaker and passion sparks between Hugh and Jenny

or will Yu win his first world title

Muslims and Jews lived peacefully together and the arts and sciences flourished

no morals and no empathy

are the best of these

its eerie secret is revealed by the ageing don

long-term habits

Something very very strange is going on

Fascinating and practical

a craving for drama