'Cabbages . . . The Turkish variety are prized for their enlarged leaf bud, that's where we put the heroin. There's a stash of heroin waiting to be imported, and no one seems sure what to do with it. But Ayla's a gardener, and she has a plan.'

Offering a fresh and funny take on the machinery of the North London heroin trade, Keeping the House lifts the lid on a covert world thriving just beneath notice: not only in McDonald's queues and men's clubs, but in spotless living rooms and whispering kitchens. Spanning three generations, this is the story of the women who keep their family - and their family business - afloat, juggling everything from police surveillance to trickier questions of community, belonging and love.