Finding herself pregnant, Julia Winter is forced to leave home rather than bring shame on her family. Reduced to living in the slums of Liverpool, she eventually finds work in a respectable hotel where Eunice Hawkins, the manager's wife, is
also expecting. For a while, Julia dares to hope for a better future for herself and her unborn child. But soon tragedy strikes — Julia's baby is stillborn at the same time as Eunice gives birth to a healthy baby girl, Amanda.

Although heartbroken at the death of her own baby, Julia helps to look after Amanda. However, Paul and Eunice Hawkins hide a secret too terrible to reveal and it is only with their deaths and teenage Amanda's sudden disappearance that Julia learns the truth. And just when she might have a chance of happiness at last, she is faced with the hardest decision of all…