A compelling and moving novel of life in war-torn 1950s Northumberland and London. In the mid-1950s, Britain looks forward to a prosperous future. And Annie Manon has come home to the North-east to keep a promise. Annie is eager to start a new life for her family, and with her fledgling fashion business, she looks forward to providing work for the women of Wassingham. But not everything is rosy. As well as her painful wartime memories, Annie must cope with an accident that cripples her husband and she must deal with the increasingly unreasonable behaviour of their daughter Sarah. When Sarah leaves home for London, Annie is torn between love for her only child and the need to keep her promise to her community...