Tat, is the first of his family to leave the Upper Eden Valley in Cumbria. He is clever, excels at rugby and has a fine singing voice. From Appleby Grammar School he gains a place at University College London. Tat mixes with art students from The Slade School, and an exciting relationship develops with Jane Cranshaw, a beautiful upper class painting student. They fall in love but he is unaware that Jane conceals a dark secret which fatally flaws their relationship. When their idyll is torn apart by a succession of emotional hammer blows, Tat and his best friend, Olly Sinclair, are engulfed in a whirlwind of turmoil and confusion. Unexpectedly, Tat's magnificent singing voice proves to be his salvation.