Winner of the English-language Children & Young People category at the 2026 Wales Book of the Year Awards

Strange things are happening in Port Talbot, and Charlie and Apricot find themselves at the centre of a strange and dangerous web.

Apricot and Charlie are best friends – sort of. Charlie is silvery Apricot’s protector, whether she likes it or not. Set in Port Talbot, between the beach, the steel works and the house in Little Switzerland with the vanishing edge swimming pool, the girls navigate a world where leaving is risky, but staying might be lethal. Their lives change forever when a red boat appears just beyond the breakwater; a man in a black jaguar knocks at their door; a white rabbit turns up in the kitchen. They must choose between staying home and breaking free, and reckon with the consequences of these choices, all while keeping Apricot from tumbling back into the black hole that she finds herself teetering on the edge of.

A book about friendship, family, and the churning, charged community of working-class Port Talbot.