Shortly before September 11, 2001, the United Kingdom was hit by a devastating outbreak of foot and mouth disease. Over 10 million sheep and cattle were put to death, a worldwide ban was placed on British meat exports and roads were closed. The crisis cost the country approximately 8 billion pounds. Little By Little takes a look back at events in Britain in the spring and summer of 2001. Author Philippa Jennings remembers those events because they hit the area where she grew up very hard. "During the crisis, it amazed me how communities rallied round together to keep spirits up. Whilst the crisis may be forgotten by many now, I wanted to write an account of how it affected the community and how people managed to pull through." In her novel, Dan, an army corporal, is medically discharged from the military after an injury in Bosnia leaves him a paraplegic. The future looks bleak as he struggles to come to terms with his disability and his fiancée abandoning him. Dan works in his parents' hotel, providing tourist information, when he meets Cath. Cath recently left her family farm in the Lake District to teach in a local primary school in Southwest Scotland.