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.

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.

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. 

Life is hard for a plain, unloved, urchin like Ruby Brandon. Alone in the world with little to bring her joy other than the occasional orphanage outings to Wood Horse Farm, Ruby has nothing but her dreams to hold on to. 

Lady Joanna Harcourt and her daughter, Sarah, discover their life of luxury at Goodwill House is over. Because with Lord Harcourt away fighting, the Harcourt girls are facing financial ruin. Lady Joanna is terrified of losing their home, but for Sarah, this means her dreams of becoming a doctor are over. Headstrong Sarah isn’t one to quit! War or not, she’s determined to find a way to save her home and follow her dreams - whatever it takes.

Ireland, 1851. After enduring years of the devastating potato famine, Ellen Kittrick is a survivor. To put food on the table, and to stop the landowner's agent from tearing down their cottage due to unpaid rent, Ellen defies her family and works at an Englishman's manor. But with an unemployed husband and a secretive brother-in-law wanting her for his own, she must face every challenge with new strength.

York, 1852. When Caroline Lawson becomes a young widow, her grief is deepened by the loss of her farm. A rash decision to travel to York to find work doesn't turn out as she expected. With money running low, Caroline fears she will soon have no choice but the workhouse. However, she is not without hope, and with her new friends, feisty Trixie, and her two little sisters and the unique Mussy, Caroline learns she is stronger than she realised and that even in the worst of times, friendship is all you need.

Yorkshire Dales, 1850. As a terrible storm rages, Annabelle Wallis is shocked to find a distressed young woman at her cottage door, heavy with child. Moments later a baby girl is born. But by dawn, the mother has vanished, leaving behind the helpless child wrapped only in a silk peacock shawl. When news spreads that Lady Eliza Hartley, sister to a wealthy estate owner, has been found dead, Annabelle realises the terrible secret she has stumbled on. Terrified she’ll be blamed for Eliza’s death, Annabelle flees to the slums of York, where she plans to raise the orphan as her own.

Nine-year-old Flora didn’t ask to be born into a life of hardship and suffering. When her mother sells her to the owner of the Great Hotel as a scullery maid, Flora learns the value of her life: eight shillings. Life in the Great Hotel is unspeakable. For years, Flora works constantly, half starved and constantly driven by the cruel cook and malicious hotel owner. She would lose hope entirely, were it not for the sweet, gentle boy who visits the Great Hotel from time to time.  

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.