Deserted by a selfish man, and driven to the workhouse, young Annabel and her midwife mother face a harsh and hopeless future. A critical situation for the workhouse governor then opens a door of deliverance for them both, but it seems that revenge and bitterness hound their every step.

Forced first into a harsh life of servitude under the philandering lord Hazelhurst and later to the clutches of the lawyer, Mr. Quigley, Demelza knows she must escape before her virtue is compromised. Only her growing love for Nathaniel, the young master of Hazelhurst Grange, gives her strength to carry on, but when clues point to Mr. Quigley’s involvement in her father’s death, she is thrust out of the house.

A helpless baby is forsaken in a churchyard. This is how life begins for orphan Emma. Unwanted, cast aside, and thrown on the mercy of strangers, she grows up wondering why. And what are the mysterious gifts each year, placed where her cradle was once abandoned? Now blossomed to youthful beauty but shunned by society, the man she loves is forbidden to marry or court her. 

Abandoned by all who should protect her, the workhouse swallows the young life of Olivia Coomb. It also swallows her voice. Who could ever love a mute and broken girl like Olivia? Franklin Slater wants nothing more, but society slays his advances, and Olivia is forced to flee once again.

Blossoming in a Victorian slum is an impossible dream. Hopes and dreams come here to die, not to be born. But Daphne is an unusually determined dreamer. Despite the disappearance of her parents and siblings, she holds to her goal. The workhouse can't stop her. The slums won't prevent her. Disaster and degradation only fuel her intentions.

The untimely death of her beloved sister and the soul-crushing grief of her mother push Daisy to an agonizing juncture – one that leaves her all alone to fend for herself against seemingly insurmountable odds. But Daisy is not a quitter! Far from defeated, her spirit remains unyielding, fuelled by the unwavering belief in her mother's eventual recovery and the promise of a brighter future. Surely her sister's death was not in vain.

Blackwell Union Workhouse hid a secret for eight long years. Two daughters born behind the dark walls thrust into the arms of the wrong mothers - one mother the Master’s wife, the other a slave of poverty, Dora. Phoebe and Claretta, the workhouse babies, switched at birth and thrust into an uncertain future. As the years unfurl, destiny sends the young ladies in different directions, but their hearts are bound. One runs, the other seeks. One haunted by fears, the other reaching for a faith and a future. Both longing for love.

It is 1874, and a lost little girl stands shivering outside Coll’s Bakery. No one on Lupin Lane recognises her, and the ever-present dangers of Whitechapel leave the fatherless child helpless. What can the elderly couple do but take this bedraggled and hungry orphan into their heart and home? Other than her name, Isabella’s past and how she ended up on Mr. and Mrs. Coll's doorstep remains a mystery. As Isabella flowers into a young woman, the secrets of the past float to the surface, as do family feuds and savage enemies of the innocent girl.

Kathryn has watched her mother suffer through many miscarriages, and prays to one day be able to help women like her. When her mother’s latest baby dies, her father callously abandons them. With no home and no income, Kathryn must put her dreams on hold to care for her ailing mother and younger sister. She must find work quickly. For a middle-class girl, the match factory is a form of hell, but it keeps a roof over their head and a little food in their bellies.

From an early age, Penelope Fowler dreams of escaping the grip of poverty. She helps her servant mother in the Eglinton House but prays one day she will be free to decide her own destiny.... Young Master Martin Eglinton accompanies his father to Peru and is horrified to discover that his family runs a cruel empire. Seeing the brutality of the fortune he is heir to, Master Martin’s return is wracked with guilt and sickness.

When Daisy Stanley's father tragically dies in a mining accident and her mother spirals into despair, the weight of responsibility falls upon the young six-year-old's shoulders.[

Dora Wentworth is born out of wedlock in one of the poorest parts of Liverpool. Abandoned by her family, she is brought by God into the arms of a childless fisherman and his wife. But life is cruel, and when an accident prevents the fisherman from working, they are forced to give her up to the orphanage. As Dora grows, neglected and alone, she almost gives up on her dreams of one day having a home and a love she can call her own. Then, through the kindness of a stranger, Dora discovers that there is always hope and embarks on a path that might finally lead her to the family she has dreamed of.

Motherless Ten-year-old Milcah Fox lives with her father and six younger siblings, collecting dropped scraps of coal in order to feed her poor and hungry family. Life for the Fox household is difficult, but the family hold themselves together with faith, love and their shared joy for stories.

Drugged and supposedly drowned by the mother who should have loved her, six-year-old Gwendoline is dredged from the Saltwick River. Poverty-stricken but rich in love, Mr. and Mrs. Paul love the tiny child as their own, until hard times and tragedy drive them to the workhouse. From this slavery, Gwendoline flees her present horror, only to run headlong into her unknown past, with consequences that tumble through the generations.

A cruel Christmas tragedy. A soldier saved by the actions of a little girl. One woman’s determined journey from helpless rags to the rich arms of love.