1932. Gabriel Sargent is from a family of miners. Deprivation and poverty, to the point of starvation, are as well known to him as the workings of the local pit. And the suicide of his father and loss of his job look set to increase his suffering. The only glimmer of hope in his life is provided by an entirely unexpected source: the Priorton Settlement. At the Settlement, a German woman, Rosel Smidt, encourages Gabriel to paint. In Rosel and his art Gabriel finds the hope of a very different existence. He begins to fall in love with Rosel, but, with the approach of the Second World War, Rosel's nationality will surely drive them apart forever...