In 1984, Girlo Wolf is born into a world of pickets and poverty. She dreams of a world beyond the defunct slagheaps of post-industrial Wales and, nurturing dreams of becoming a poet, seeks social mobility through education. Struggling with life-long mental health challenges and the repercussions of childhood trauma, she falls into a dark underworld of sex, drugs and alcohol. Channelling her lived experiences, and those of her working-class community, she soon discovers that her words are a conduit to recovery and survivourhood. Gemma June Howell’s debut is a powerful tribute to the intergenerational struggles of working-class people and an authentic story of one woman’s journey to empowerment.