Following personal tragedy, Charlotte Hayes finds herself living in poverty and in charge of two motherless boys and a waif from the streets. She works in a nearby bookshop and just about manages to survive. When an autocratic doctor and her employer's engaging son arrive in Lincoln, she is drawn into two very different worlds and she struggles to retain her family and stability. But then she is accused of blackmail and murder and her dark secret is discovered. Can she rise above her torments and achieve the happiness she desires?