Growing up on a small, struggling farm on the outskirts of Sunderland in the early 1900s, Polly Farrow has a tough life, but she has gifts money can't buy - a joyful disposition and a loving heart. And her heart belongs to her beloved cousin, Michael. Polly knows that one day they'll be man and wife. But a terrible secret is to shatter her dreams for ever: Michael is her half-brother, the fruit of an incestuous relationship between her father and his own sister - Michael's mother. The lovers are rent apart and Polly is left to bear the responsibility of the farm alone - for her father kills himself, unable to live with his shame. Life is now a battle for survival, and Polly wonders if she will ever find happiness. But the answer to her prayers is closer than she thinks...