Spirited Hannah Francis singing brightens the days of those around her in the workhouse. Even when she is separated from her mother and forced to travel to Derbyshire with three other children to work long hours in a cotton mill, Hannah is undaunted. Life for the pauper apprentices is arduous and dangerous. Their daily routine is harsh and demanding, but friendships are forged and an innocent love starts to blossom. But can such a fragile love survive the cruel realities? And what of Edmund Critchlow, the man who owns them all, body and soul? The man from whom no pretty mill girl is safe.