Nathan Forrest, a Catholic, a welder, and an illegitimate son, is raised by his grandmother in this gripping narrative of class and religious strife. Nathan, a talented jazz trumpeter, is smitten by Dorothy Jones, a middle-class Protestant girl. Against a backdrop of decaying Westburn's doomed shipyards and bitter environment, the young lovers seek to escape the constraints of prejudice and hate. But is their love and determination enough to bring them happiness, or will religious and social conflict consume them both?Nathan Forrest, a Catholic, a welder, and an illegitimate son, is raised by his grandmother in this gripping narrative of class and religious strife. Nathan, a talented jazz trumpeter, is smitten by Dorothy Jones, a middle-class Protestant girl. Against a backdrop of decaying Westburn's doomed shipyards and bitter environment, the young lovers seek to escape the constraints of prejudice and hate. But is their love and determination enough to bring them happiness, or will religious and social conflict consume them both?