Like any family, the residents of Diamond Street sometimes fights and often act up but when the chips are down, they're there for each other in an instant - usually brandishing a cheap bottle of booze, and the offer of an impromptu kitchen disco. Presided over by the wise-cracking but warm-hearted patriarch of the family, Danny Hall, a professional dancer turned choreographer, the novel follows a year in the life of the inhabitants of Diamond Street, rough diamonds one and all, as they try to achieve their dreams - with unexpected, heart-warming and sometimes hilarious results.