Dublin, 1918. In a country doubly ravaged by war and disease, Nurse Julia Power works at an understaffed hospital in the city centre, in a ward where expectant mothers who have come down with an unfamiliar flu are quarantined together. Into Julia's regimented world step two outsiders: Doctor Kathleen Lynn, on the run from the police, and a young volunteer helper, Bridie Sweeney. In the darkness and intensity of this tiny ward, over the course of three...

Warwickshire, 1875. Emerald Pritchard has lived a privileged life with her parents and her younger sister Abigail in the stately Astley House on the outskirts of Nuneaton. But all that suddenly changes when her father disappears, leaving the family in debt. They are forced to throw themselves on the mercy of Emerald's uncle, who begrudgingly allows them a small cottage within the grounds of his farm. Desperate to find work, Emerald is forced to travel...