Chrissie Glazebrook

The original Northern Powerhouse, Newcastle upon Tyne has witnessed countless transformations over the last century or so, from its industrial heyday, when Tyneside engineering and innovation led the world, through decades of post-industrial decline, and underinvestment, to its more recent reinvention as a cultural destination for the North. The ten short stories gathered here all feature characters in search of something, a new reality, a space, perhaps, in which to rediscover themselves: from the call-centre worker imagining herself far away from the claustrophobic realities of her day job, to the woman coming to terms with an ex-lover who’s moved on all too quickly, to the man trying to outrun his mother’s death on Town Moor. The Book of Newcastle brings together some of the city’s most renowned literary talents, along with exciting new voices, proving that while Newcastle continues to feel the effects of its lost industrial past, it is also a city striving for a future that brims with promise.

When Rowena Vincent, Warrior Princess and teenage runaway, flees her Newcastle home to trace her missing dad in Dublin, she sets off armed only with an old photograph. But Rowena has a knack for attracting trouble and, alone in a strange city, her problems begin when Hefty O'Hara appoints himself as her minder. Protection comes at a price, and before long Rowena is on the lam again, this time accompanied by chambermaid and newfound friend Texy. The trail leads them to rural Ireland, where Rowena finds work in the nearby 'nunvent' - home of the Blue Spark Sisters - but this is no ordinary convent, and Rowena's arrival sets off a train of bizarre events which throws her already messy life even further into chaos...