Beverley follows a mixed-race girl's struggle to carve out a sense of identity in a confusing and changing cultural landscape: 1980s Leicester. Moving from the decaying, poverty-stricken urban environment to the relative comfort and notional safety of white suburbia it doesn't provide the hope and opportunities that Bev might have wanted. A familiar enemy is ever-present, a threat that extends beyond her own safety, as she must also protect her brother and sister. By asserting her will and using her cunning, Bev attempts to shape her new surroundings into something pleasing, but the result is the opposite of what she's trying to achieve.