Kith and Kin is a dark coming of age but there is never anything clichéd in Stevie's treatment of character or theme. She is a writer of calibre, who cuts to the quick of human experiences and emotions, exploring the shifting and conflicting facets of human nature.

Mara and Frankie are cousins and best friends, growing up in the stifling atmosphere of Swansea in the 1950s in an environment in which grudges are born through the smallest of provocations yet endure for generations. The cousins' complex relationship explodes in the 60s - a decade in which notions of family and kinship are overturned. Together they are drawn to the idealism of 'free love' and social revolution, of fluid relationships and a new way of living. But the dream turns sour and a bitter battle of wills results, ending in tragedy and the loss of a child. In the 1990s, Mara confronts unanswered questions about Frankie's suspicious death.

This is a powerful exploration of the limits and conflicts of friendship and of one generation's ultimately destructive quest for freedom.