Vanessa Ratcliffe was sixteen – a provocative and delicate sixteen. She lived in one of the "big" houses on Brampton Hill – because the Ratcliffes, a wealthy, powerful and avaricious family, were considered "big" folk in the town.

          And down in Ryder’s Row, in the middle of goods yards and dirty streets, lived Angus Cotton – rough, uneducated and yet possessing a vital strength that found an outlet in his ambitious plans for the future.

          And although these plans had never included Vanessa, events were to draw them inevitably towards one another …..

          THE ROUND TOWER was the winner of the Winifred Holtby Memorial Prize on first publication.