Jonathan Markwood

A gangster family epic set in 1919 Birmingham, England and centered on a gang who sew razor blades in the peaks of their caps, and their fierce boss Tommy Shelby, who means to move up in the world.

Six students — Vod Nordstrom, Oregon Shawcross, Josie Jones, Kingsley Owen, JP Pembersley, and Howard McGregor — are freshmen (save for second year Howard) at Manchester Medlock University. Having applied late to accommodation, they live in a shared, off-campus house in Whalley Range rather than the halls of residence.

After a childhood of abuse by his evangelistic father, misfit Oscar Hopkins becomes an Anglican minister and develops a divine obsession with gambling. Lucinda Leplastrier is a rich Australian heiress shopping in London for materials for her newly acquired glass factory back home. Deciding to travel to Australia as a missionary, Oscar meets Lucinda aboard ship, and a mutual obsession blossoms. They make a wager that will alter each of their destinies.