Being threatened by a mad tramp seems just more bad luck to ‘Coo.’ Instead it leads to a meeting that will change her life forever.
Coo’s alcoholic brother Sam has died and her family is falling apart. Unable to speak of her own role in his death, or forgive her parents for failing to protect her, she is searching for a lifeline.
Truanting by the Brighton seafront, Coo believes it’s just another bad day, but then she meets three people: an aggressive tramp called Mad Alec; his mate ‘Banks’ and a boy named Joe.
Banks is not a regular tramp. He speaks of Wittgenstein, forgiveness and the power of stones, but at the same time there are reports of attacks in the area. Coo begins to suspect Mad Alec, but Banks seems determined not to listen.
Through a strange midnight feast, a near drowning and the unravelling of secrets, the girl and the tramp seek a chance of redemption, until they find that their feelings are dangerously astray.
Mad Alec finally confronts Coo and she learns that there are limits to forgiveness, and that some broken things can never be mended.
‘Stones’ is a story aimed at the teenage market but also appeals to adults. It is set in present day Brighton.