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.[

London, 1859. After Elizabeth's family is taken by disease, she is taken in by Calvin and Mary, working long hours in their bakery. Life is good until Mary dies, leaving Elizabeth alone with Calvin, where beatings become part of Elizabeth's daily life. As she suffers misery day after day, she dreams of running away but knows she will be brought back, with even more severe punishments.

Nora is forced into the workhouse at eight years old with her younger sister when they lose their parents. Hungry, lonely, and scared, the sisters lean on each other to get through a miserable existence of backbreaking work. When Nora is able to find work in the home of a titled lady, she's forced to leave her sister behind. Frightened for her sister's well-being, she returns to the workhouse after several months away, but her sister is gone. Desperate to find her, Nora resorts to lies and deceit to get a job as a maid for a wealthy merchant.

Claire had always dreamed of living in London, but the stark reality of life on the dangerous streets soon has dire consequences for her family. They seek shelter in an abandoned tenement building until it becomes too dangerous. Forced into the workhouse, Claire is taken from her parents and forced to work long hours by a cruel workhouse master who has no pity for Claire. It is only when David arrives at the workhouse that Claire feels her life is worth living again.

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.