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.

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.

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. 

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.[

In the wake of losing both her parents, young Joanna believed Bernard Woods was the solution to all her problems. It’s only after her baby, Della, is born that Joanna discovers Bernard is a scoundrel and a drunkard, more interested in gambling than in caring for his little family. When Bernard’s past catches up to him and Joanna finds him dead, police suspect she was the one who drove the knife into his heart. She has no choice but to take her baby and flee into the perilous streets of Victorian London, where children are a commodity and women a convenience…

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.

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.

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.

Daisy Parker’s life is imperfect, but it’s better than she could ever have imagined. Born in a Victorian workhouse, Daisy grew up knowing little other than discipline and desperate need. It is sweet and kind Bart Parker who changes her life by marrying her, giving her everything she holds most dear: a cozy home, a beautiful baby girl named Fannie, and a husband who truly loves her.

Being a maid at the Highmore estate is hard work, but it offers food and a warm place to sleep. And it is there she meets Nate, an orphan like herself. Forming a fast bond, Charlotte is thankful she can count on Nate. Until tragedy strikes, and Nate is removed from the estate, leaving Charlotte shattered.

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.

In two run-down houses, at the side of a barren Black Country heath, live six children with no family but each other. Abandoned or orphaned, every day is a fight to find food and keep warm. But they are determined to stay free of the clutches of the workhouse and the horrors that would face them if they were ever torn apart. Dora Parsons lives with her mother, Mary, and her evil grandmother, Edith. Edith’s house may be comfortable and warm, and food is plentiful, but every day, Dora suffers at the hands of her spiteful gran.

Maggie Bailey has not had an easy childhood. Her father, Michael, always too easy with his fists after spending the family’s rent money down the pub. Just sixteen, in love and blinded by promises, Maggie sees marriage to handsome Jack as her great escape. However, she soon finds herself abandoned with a beautiful baby when Jack disappears. Maggie is forced to seek a new life away from the East End of London and finds herself a job at a hotel in Yarmouth.

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?

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.