Hugh is a hard-drinking lion of the Welsh Valleys. His daughter, Evelyn lost her heart to a travelling gypsy. And handsome prizefighter Freedom was saved from the gallows to do battle for the heavy weight championship of the world.

From the poverty of the Welsh pit valleys to the glories of the prize ring, from the dangers of prohibition America to the terrors of Britain at war, Lynda La Plante delves into the lives of a remarkable family and its fortunes, and the curse that forged their names.