Publisher's Synopsis
Loved by wildlife, threatened by developers.
A heart-warming story of a reluctant and unlikely friendship between a pair of misfits,
whose futures become linked to the survival of an urban 'greenspace'.
Two young people are struggling to find themselves and a role in life. For one, the world is changing too quickly. For the other, change can't come soon enough. Linking them are overgrown railway sidings - home to wildlife but about to be destroyed.
Jill Standing is mocked because of her name, ignored because of the way she looks and thought wacky because of her views on the environment. Harry Pratt is mired in traditions foisted on him by his father. His interests are vintage jukeboxes, creating Christmas cracker jokes and his boss, Sarah. He has no interest whatsoever in the environment. They're indifferent to one another, yet both want to preserve the sidings, but for different reasons. Campaigning against a big business, a shared love of Blondie and a reclusive, retired school-teacher transforms their lives.
Set in 1989, and with a backdrop of music, environmental concerns and nostalgia, it follows frustrating wrong turns to a surprising, heart-warming conclusion.
