Abandoned on the streets by a mother who doesn't want them, Maggie and her young brothers are forced into the cruel confines of the workhouse. When Maggie is forced to leave the workhouse, and her terrified brothers, behind to begin work as a seamstress, she vows to get her family back together.

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. 

London 1890. Stella Green has lived a hard life. Left alone to care for her sister while her mother works, Stella soon realizes what her mother's work entails, and when she is pushed to start work herself, she runs to the streets of London. As thievery and lies become her daily life, she meets a kind boy who provides food for her, but Stella never sees him again. Worried about her sister, Stella plans to take her away before she is forced by their mother into a demoralizing lifestyle.

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.[

On a cold, lonely Christmas Eve, 15-year-old Dovie Ellis gives birth to a baby girl she names Christmas. Lost and afraid in the world, Dovie flees, abandoning her child that very same night.

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.

Lady Napier is desperate to give her high-society husband an heir. Devastated by the birth of yet another girl, a secretive plot is hatched to replace the disappointing child with the newborn son of a local village woman.

Sixteen-year-old Charlotte Kirby believes she's all alone in the world when her mother is killed in a bombing raid. But then a mysterious aunt comes forward and offers her a home in the small Yorkshire village where she and her husband George run the local pub. Charlotte finds it hard to adjust to rural life. She doesn't mind helping out in the pub, but she can't understand why her Aunt Hilda seems to resent her so. When a group of French orphans are brought to live in the big house, Charlotte volunteers to help look after them.

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.

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.

Staffordshire, 1911. Money is in short supply for Ginnie Jones’ family, and she is sent to Haddon Workhouse. When she meets Clara and Sam, she hopes that she has made friends for life...until tragedy strikes. Three years later, Ginnie finds work as a mouldrunner at the Potteries, but never stops thinking about her friends. When Sam and Ginnie are reunited, their bond is as strong as ever, until Sam is sent to fight in the war. Can Ginnie find the joy that she’s never had? 

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.

It is 1919 and poverty in the mining village where 16-year-old Megan Williams lives, forces her to leave her loving family to work as a kitchen maid in Bristol. Her sly cousin Lizzie, already a parlour maid at Redcliffe House, is determined to make things difficult for Megan. It was never going to be easy, for both upstairs and downstairs it is a maelstrom of feuds.

When 17-year-old Marie Sinclair travelled to Strathlinn in Scotland in 1920 to visit her brother and his new family, all she was looking for is rest and recuperation after the death of Lady Hanley, for whom she had been caring for over the past 18 months. But when her pregnant sister-in-law is rushed to hospital, Marie is forced to take on a far greater role in the lives of her Scottish family. And who is Mark Blackford, the new, young Estate owner? Meeting him on the train to Strathlinn, Marie's life becomes entwined with his, as friend, help-meet, and, maybe, something more?

Ten-year-old Jack Larkin has seen more than his fair share of shocking sights, growing up in the notorious Crown Saloon. Broken hearts and broken bones are just a fact of life in a Gin Palace, but for orphan Dolly, the Crown is her last hope. After the death of her mother, Dolly ran away from her sleazy stepfather, Arthur, only to find herself living on the streets. When Jack discovers her hiding in the back yard of the Crown, he persuades his mother, Nellie Larkin, to take Dolly in.