Beauty is a twenty-year-old Bangladeshi, back in England having shocked her family by fleeing an abusive arranged marriage. Now she is forced onto the jobseekers' treadmill. Her fractious encounters with officialdom and passers-by in the city streets place her at the mercy of many unlikely helpers. But it's with honesty and compassion that Beauty moves ever closer towards resolving her dilemma of family duty...
Darkus is miserable. His dad has disappeared and now he is living next door to the most disgusting neighbours ever. A giant beetle called Baxter comes to his rescue. But can the two solve the mystery of his dad's disappearance, especially when links emerge to cruel Lucretia Cutter and her penchant for beetle jewellery? A coffee-mug mountain, home to a million insects, could provide the answer - if Darkus and Baxter...