Lena Phillips has everything she could want: a father who adores her, a mother who spends hours reading to her, a nursery full of the most wonderful toys. Lena even has Sally Goodman, a doting governess. Lena is only four years old, and she's the happiest little girl in the whole wide world. As Christmas approaches, Lena grows more and more excited - unaware that a dark plot is brewing, and she will be caught in its tendrils.

Fae Carter has been hiding all her life. First, her mother keeps her hidden away from the angry, violent man who owns their home. He calls Mama his favorite secret, but Fae knows he's not her father. Fae has to hide whenever he comes because he hates her so much that he hurts her if he finds her. Mama sends Fae to go and live with her grandparents in the country.

The last thing Lindy Cook wants to do is leave Yorkshire behind. The countryside is the only home she’s ever known, and its splendid landscapes lift her spirits even amidst trouble, so does Titus, the bright-eyed country boy who’s always been her dear friend. Lindy’s troubles are many. Papa has gone to London for work; Mama is quite unwell, and her two little brothers constantly need to be fed and cared for. With no resources, she has no choice but to pack her little family into a stifling railway carriage headed for a whole new world - a world she doesn’t understand. 

Tilly Barton can’t wait for Christmas - it’s her favorite time of the year. Her seafaring husband, Ray, is due home any moment now. Soon, she’ll be baking gingerbread and decorating the tree with her three young children. But, everything changes when Ray is tragically lost at sea. Tilly finds herself a widow with three little ones to think of in the brutality of a London winter. They’re cast into a turmoil of hardship, with Tilly struggling and scraping to keep her little family alive. Christmases come and go, bringing little joy with them.

Abbie Hughes lives in a tiny, rundown tenement with her crippled father and younger sister. Her mother is long dead, and her brother has gone out to sea. Abbie and her sister, Gail, eke out a living by selling posies and broth on the street corners. It isn’t much, but at least they aren’t starving, and they have each other; in truth, their little tenement is filled with love.