In a small Lancashire town in the 1840s, three working class orphans struggle to survive. Despite technological advancement, life is harder for Nell, Bill and Luke than it was for their parents. As they grow up, they each find their own way of improving their situation, through marriage, education, or illegal means. But family scandal that no one will talk about, and the mysterious Edward Ainsworth who will stop at nothing to destroy their family, threaten to ruin what progress they've made.