Sally is an orphan living in Plymouth's Barbican, a late 19th century dockside slum, where a vile trade flourishes in young girls, duped and shipped off to the brothels of Europe. Her sister, Ruth, is driven to prostitution in order to support them, until she becomes too ill to work.With her sick sister to take care of in their single room home, Sally finds employment delivering wares for a local shop, meeting fisherman Ethan and, through him, Eva, a captain in the local Salvation ...

The Cornish coast of 1810 was alive with fishing boats, warships and smugglers. For Nathan Jago, a fishing business seemed the ideal place to invest his prizefighting winnings.But it wasn't all plain sailing to a wealthy future. For a start there was wilful young squire's daughter Elinor Hearle. And then there was Amy, with her passion for the sea and her fierce Cornish pride...

It is 1899. A new generation has inherited the Rhodesian birthright that Dan Retallick won from the legendary king of Matabeleland. Once again, the dark clouds of conflict loom on the horizon as the blood-streaked bayonets of the Boer War encircle the sons of Dan Retallick.Nat, with one eye on the wilful wife of an English colonel, joins the colours as a 'guide' for the British army. But his younger brother Adam follows a rebel star and a farmer's daughter to enlist with a Boer com...

Local landowner John Bettison has forbidden his workers to attend church, but when curate Toby Lovell arrives in Porthluney, he is determined to bring about change. Injured during the Battle of Trafalgar, Toby is used to facing adversity but little does he realise the challenge that lies ahead of him.But the trouble really starts when Toby falls in love with Bethany Poole, a local Quaker girl. When her society rejects her, she turns to Toby for support but a dreadful misunderstandi...

Josh Retallick and his wife Miriam take on an exciting new challenge as owners of Ruddlemoor china clay works on the outskirts of St Austell. But a family tragedy forces Josh to leave almost immediately. When he returns he knows that his youngest grandson will one day follow him.So it is that several years later Ben Retallick journeys to Cornwall. His arrival rocks the local community - labourers are wary of this strapping young lad; rival clay owners see him as an unwelcome threat;...

Fergus Vine has left the Navy to seek out his mentor, Henry Gordon. But Gordon lies dead, a victim of the scourge of the poor: alcoholism. Grieving for the loss of his friend, Fergus decides to fulfil Gordon's mission to record the lives of the poor on canvas. A mission that will lead him to Becky, the wayward orphan destined to change his life forever.

1915: Ben Retallick is asked by a War Office friend to provide two traction engines for a secret expedition attempting to take two gunboats overland from Cape Town to Lake Tanganyika - more than 3,000 miles - to wrest control of the lake from the Germans. He sends engines with young Ruddlemoor as the driver, who meets a Portuguese East African nurse and takes her side against a group of white racist south Africans.Meanwhile Antonia St Anna is influential in having Ben released, when...

When Dewi Morgan arrives at Polrudden Manor, it is to find a disappointing welcome. She had expected to take up the position of governess to Nathan Jago's son, Beville but Nathan is determined to have a local girl for the post. It takes a dramatic rescue for Nathan to have a change of heart and by then Dewi's gentle ways and sense of fun have made her a favourite with the entire household.Cornwall in the early years of the nineteenth century is a place of social upheaval and change....

Josh and Miriam Retallick and their grandson Ben seem almost part of the wild and rugged Cornish landscape of 1913. Yet a revolutionary spirit of change is sweeping across the country - and the whole of Europe - with terrifying haste.Even before the outbreak of the Great War, with strike action compromising his position in the community and threatening the future of the China clay industry, Ben is unsettled by the presence of his cousin Emma Cotton. Inspired by the blossoming suffr...

On a wild stormy night in 1813, Nathan Jago, drift fisherman, ex-prizefighter and lord of the manor of Polrudden, rescues a young boy from a drowning mother's arms as a French ship founders on the jagged Cornish rocks. It is an act that will profoundly affect his destiny.Despite hard times, Nathan and his wife Amy adopt Jean-Paul and bring him up with their own son. Nathan considers a return to the ring in the struggle to make a living and keep the ancient house in the family. But e...

Cornwall, 1854 - Alice Rowe owes everything to Reverend Alfred Markham who rescued her from a workhouse, employing her in his parsonage as a housemaid. So when he dies suddenly of a heart attack, Alice faces a fearful and uncertain future. But as one chapter in Alice's life ends, another begins. For as she discovers the Reverend's body in the woods near their house, she meets Gideon Davey - a 'ganger' who is laying a nearby stretch of railway line. Not only does Gideon help recover the bod...

Cornwall, 1914 - Perys Tremayne arrives at St Austell to stay with relatives at the ancient family home of Heligan House. But this is not a social visit: Perys is hoping to use his family connections to start a military career with the Duke of Cornwall Light Infantry.Perys is a Tremayne, but only just: his childhood was coloured by the disgrace of his illegitimacy. While family tensions continue to strain, Perys finds friendship with the locals, in particular farm girl Annie Rowe. ...