BAD WINE

Five friends. Two Oxfords. One evening that will change everything.

Oxford, 1977.

Hugh Palmer arrives at university with an unreliable suitcase, limited money and the uneasy feeling that everyone else already knows the rules.

Henry Whitmore has never had to wonder whether he belongs. Darcy Bennett is determined to challenge the conventions around her. Thomas Ellwood believes in reason, while Grant Sutton is discovering how difficult it can be to find your place among people born into privilege.

Before long, five unlikely friends have created a world of tutorials, music, late nights and the promise of extraordinary futures.

But Oxford has another side.

At the Bell & Crown, Maggie Price dreams of becoming a photographer while her family work to keep their business running. Their lives are far removed from the comfortable assumptions of the university.

When an elaborate student prank, inspired by Oxford's notorious medieval wine riot, takes a disastrous turn, an injury becomes an accusation, friendships begin to fracture and different versions of the same evening emerge.

What really happened? Who will be believed? And how much are people prepared to sacrifice to protect themselves and those they love?

As the consequences reach far beyond the ancient college walls, five young people must confront the uncomfortable difference between the people they believed themselves to be and the choices they actually make.

BAD WINE is an atmospheric, character-driven novel of friendship, ambition, love, class and conscience, set against the beautiful and deeply divided world of Oxford in the late 1970s.

Some mistakes can be forgiven. Others change the course of people's lives.