Ruth Purslow, Lizzie Warren and Heather Knight each have their own reasons for greeting the end of the war with mixed feelings. For Ruth, it means she must face the possibility of losing Sammy, the evacuee boy she has come to love as her own - not to mention the uncertain relationship she has with his father, Dan. For Heather, who has been enjoying working the farm since her husband Ian went away, there is the difficult process of adjusting to a man who believes that his wife's place will now be in the kitchen. And Lizzie is confronted by the truth about her own strength of will in enduring years of loneliness - particularly as her friendship with the American airman, Floyd, deepens. With the coming of peace, life changes more than anyone had expected. The 'love and laughter' that had been promised turn to bewilderment, anger and disappointment. Yet somehow the determination that has strengthened the families of Bridge End and April Grove through six years of war comes to their aid again, and although nothing is quite as they had hoped it would be, each is able to move into a future without war, and learn to live with peace.