Nettlebed

Agatha is the runt of the litter. One sweltering summer, she is the only one watching.

On a crumbling small-holding in the West Country, ten-year-old Agatha moves through the woods like a fox and scavenges the river like a gull. In her world of mud, stingers, and "nice-nasty" smells, she finds joy and meaning-but she is also the silent witness to her family's isolation: her mother is bedbound with an unclear illness, her father is stuck to the bottle, her wayward brother Kit is up to no good, and her beloved older sister Lou is off at boarding school, or so she's told.

When Susan, a pretty newcomer to the village with a "normal" life, invites Agatha over to listen to her new Bay City Rollers LP, she sees a glimpse of how her life could be. Little does she know that their chance encounter will eventually disintegrate the family altogether...