Harry's early years were blighted by a brutal stepfather. But when he wasfive, his mother finally met and married a decent man, a coal miner andpassionate believer in workers' rights. Loved by his new family, Harryembraced their socialism and even considered rejecting his inheritance fromthe family he never knew.

Harry graduates from Oxford with dreams of becoming an artist but when hereturns to Pontypridd he finds that his beloved 'grandfather', ex-minerBilly Evans, has lung disease and, when Billy is sent to a sanatorium in theWelsh Hills, the only one free to accompany him is Harry. There Harry meetstwo very different women: Diana, a beautiful, feminist medical student; andMary, an illiterate, orphaned farmer's daughter fighting to keep her familytogether.

Harry falls in love - only to suffer rejection - and for the first timelearns about life, love and the responsibility that comes with inheritedwealth . . .