Elizabeth Gill

When their mother dies and their father, in his grief, burns down their wagon and runs away, Kath and Ella - gypsy sisters - suddenly become orphans. With no one to turn to for help, they face hardship and hunger at every turn. Will their special sisters' bond be strong enough to see them to safety?

1920, Durham. Since she was a child, Lucy Charlton has dreamed of working with her father in the family solicitor's firm. But a scandal shatters her dreams and, when her father disowns her, she finds herself on the streets, fighting for survival. Joe Hardy has returned to London after the Great War to find his life in tatters - his father is dead and his pregnant fiancee has disappeared. Then Joe learns he's unexpectedly inherited an old river house...

As a child Blake is taken in by neighbours after the death of his grandparents and works for his keep. As a young man he falls in love with his employer's daughter, Annie, and is forced to leave the farm and seek work in the shipyards of Sunderland.