Bouquet of Barbed Wire - synopsis (spoilerish)

Spoilers!

The lives of Peter and Cassie Manson are turned upside down when their beloved daughter Prue reveals that she is pregnant by her teacher, Gavin Sorenson. Prue plans to keep the baby, drop out of school and marry Gavin. Besides Peter’s fears for his daughter’s future, he is rocked by the unnerving certainty that Gavin is on some sort of personal mission against him.

Peter is a successful architect with offices in the city of London, but his practice has been severely hit by the recession. In a bid to bring in new clients he and his partner (Richard) decide to employ a junior. The successful candidate is Sarah Francis, a beautiful and talented twenty-something. As Peter tries to overcome the aching fear that he has lost his daughter forever, his relationship with Cassie becomes increasingly distant. Is this just fatherly concern, or has Peter’s love for Prue become an obsession? Peter is then hit by the news that the company’s only client is pulling out of a deal that was keeping the practice afloat, and the only person Peter feels he can talk to is Sarah. With his life disintegrating around him, Peter and Sarah embark on an affair.

Prue organises a honeymoon for herself and Gavin in Wakefield, Yorkshire. She is intrigued by Gavin’s past in Wakefield, especially because that’s where her father grew up, and where her grandmother still lives. But more than anything Prue wants to track down the mysterious “Paula” whose name Gavin has tattooed on the underside of his wrist. When Prue returns from the honeymoon with her face battered and bruised, Peter is convinced that Gavin is to blame. Nevertheless Prue remains devoted to Gavin, and there is a sense that this new dimension to their relationship excites her. In a desperate attempt to rebuff Gavin, Peter calls in a private security firm, who break into the flat and attack Gavin, putting him in hospital.

Cassie tries all she can to keep the family together, but she beings to fall under Gavin’s spell, intrigued by his knowledge of Peter’s past and the mysterious woman named “Paula”. With his marriage at breaking point, and facing financial ruin, the net begins to close around Peter: everything appears to lead back to “Paula”. As Gavin’s personal quest for the truth nears its conclusion Peter is forced to face the dark secret of his past, a secret which shines a disturbing light on Peter’s own love for Prue, and forces the Manson family to acknowledge a truth which may destroy their lives forever.