A Cut Above follows a group of school friends in Edinburgh through the 60s and 70s. There’s so much high drama in this working-class neighborhood, with forbidden lovers, tragic deaths, family secrets, social manipulations and chance encounters, it’s impossible to put it down.  The novel’s not all secret paternity and forbidden romance, though, there are also pram-pushing grannies, sixties British Invasion fashion, and lots of tea-drinking. In one scene, a character talks about loving the twists and turns of the plucky characters of Coronation Street, and it almost broke the fourth wall. That’s exactly what I loved is in this novel. Fans of Corrie or The Girls from See Saw Lane, willing to suspend a little disbelief for a heartwarming soap will love A Cut Above, too.