With the Depression and the Great War recent history and the Second World War about to begin, emotions are running high. This is particularly true for young Greta Peters who lost her mother, brother, and sister to illness and now lives with her father, Harry. Helping them in their grief is their friendly neighbor Rene, and Greta's barmaid grandmother, Cissie Hardcastle. With so many deaths in her family, it is no wonder that Greta believes her house is haunted and this feeling is reinforced when she arrives home one foggy, winter's evening to find a stranger lurking in the darkness. But he was certainly no apparition. Was he a would-be burglar caught in the act, or just a hungry, desperate man?

When the two meet again, Greta discovers that the youth's name is Alexander Armstrong and that he has recently left an orphanage from up north. With a connection existing between the Armstrong family and Greta's dead mother, it seems unlikely that Alex would choose their house to burgle. So what exactly was it he was looking for in Greta's house, and is it something that Greta herself can help him to find?

As the bombs start to fall new romances and friendships develop, but will they be strong enough to survive this new national crisis?