1885 - ex-convict Emma Grady has returned to her hometown of Blackburn and been reunited with her lover Marlow. Now married, with a beautiful home, loving husband and wonderful son, she is still haunted by the past, unable to forget the cruelty of her uncle Caleb Crowther, who ignored her desperate pleas to save her and her tragic first-born.

A feared local justice, Crowther curses his niece’s return and sets out to destroy her anew, whilst also hounding Molly, her lost daughter. Born to a life of crime and poverty and deserted by her husband, Molly tries desperately to keep her three children fed and clothed. When Emma starts looking for her, Molly wrongly fears that it is Crowther searching her out and she and her children run away to become vagabonds. Contending with hunger, exhaustion and the unwelcome attentions of the men who are drawn to Molly’s dark beauty, their life is at times almost unbearable. But Molly has inherited Emma’s indomitable spirit …