Donna, with her flamboyant hair and intricate tattoos, likes to hide behind an upfront attitude. When she strikes up with Shane, the joy she feels is clouded by his lawless past and her own anguish over a schoolfriend’s death. But as grandmother Ruby shares memories of wartime romances and goes dancing in her silver shoes she offers her family a lesson in passion and survival.

Three women of different generations who poignantly convey strength, sadness, love and joy in abundance, yet without a trace of sentimentality. An enriching read

— Valerie Wood, first winner of the Catherine Cookson Fiction Prize

A tough and tender story about a tough and tender city

— Alan Plater

Hull is intimately evoked as a place haunted by its proud, seafaring history and almost eerie with menace in those areas blighted by drugs and crime. The immediacy and vigour of Daphne Glazer’s expression make for a compelling read. But it is the subject matter which makes this novel so important, putting me in mind of Pat Barker. Daphne deals with the nature of human evil with unflinching candour. A bold and compassionate novel

— Linda Anderson

Goodbye, Hessle Road captures the struggling and disenfranchised underbelly of a hard-working city in all its shabby grace and faded colours; in its past glories, and in the evaporating dreams and unravelling hopes of its present occupants; and in all its vibrant, determined, blowsy, spirited splendour

— Robert Edric