When Emily Atkinson is admitted to hospital, she quickly discovers that her reckless lifestyle won?t mix well with her unexpected diagnosis. She?s pregnant. Her nurse and new best friend, Betsey, helps Emily to recuperate and reassures her that, just maybe, she won?t be a terrible mother. But a growing sense of suspicion is putting Emily on edge - someone is watching her. And as a series of women go missing, Emily?s pregnancy becomes decidedly high-risk....

Fleetwood Shuttleworth is 17 years old, married, and pregnant for the fourth time. But as the mistress at Gawthorpe Hall, she still has no living child, and her husband Richard is anxious for an heir. When Fleetwood finds a letter she isn't supposed to read from the doctor who delivered her third stillbirth, she is dealt the crushing blow that she will not survive another pregnancy. Then she crosses paths by chance with Alice Gray, a young midwife....