Grinding poverty and violence are on everyday part of life in Glasgow's slums during the 1920s. But Josie Collins, whose mother's death has left her alone with her abusive father, has a dream that she'll become a reporter for one of the city's newspapers. But then disaster strikes when Josie reaches sixteen.

Forced to give up her unwanted baby, she starts a new life under her mother's maiden name. After a long struggle, Josie achieves her dream and just as she starts to trust the happiness she's found, the past catches up with her, threatening everything she has worked so hard to achieve.