Breaking Shells by Neville Judson

Simon, Tim and Ruth are childhood friends, growing up in a small, quiet English village in the 1960s. Their pleasures are found in the natural world around them; climbing and caving, motor-bikes, and each other. Their lives remain intertwined even when Simon and Tim leave the confines of the village to attend university in Manchester and Cambridge. Breaking Shells is a tender, challenging novel, dealing with the heartbreaks and confusions of first love, interracial relationships, religious strictures and the shame and dangers of buried secrets. Set within a period of huge social shifts, Breaking Shells charts the coming of age enduring friendship of a trio who prove that bonds and loyalty can triumph over adversity.