Maud and Sara Richards lived in a cotton mill town in the foothills of the Rossendale Valley Lancashire their parents wanted to give the two sisters the best opportunity they could have there parents had sacrificed a great deal to give them the best education possible. After fulfilling their education Maud went into the world of teaching that had always been her dream she then meets a solicitor called John Howard she was in love with him, it was the perfect marriage or so she thought. For Sara, it took her sometime to realise her potential as she was head over heels in love with Tommy Foster who was from the wrong side of the track with a bad reputation, however, she eventually joins the Royal Navy for adventure and excitement only to become entangled with a Dave Phillip who liked to be in control. For the girls their journeys takes them into a sordid world of deceit and danger.