As the Great War rolls on towards its end, it takes its toll on the inhabitants of Victoria Crescent in Chester. Alice Bennett's relief at hearing her husband, Sebastian, is alive is tempered with concern when she learns he is wounded. And when he finally returns home to his family, it seems nothing will ever be the same again.

Meanwhile, Clara O'Toole searches for her aunt, her irascible grandmother Bernie's long lost daughter, and she is over the moon to find she has relatives she never knew about. But is Clara ready to be drawn into the tragedies, secrets - and dangers - of the family's past?