August 1883. The future for Ling Southcott, a quarryman’s daughter, seems to be already mapped. Marriage to her childhood sweetheart, Barney, a cluster of children, a life contained to the hamlet of Foggintor Quarry. For Ling, with her sharp, enquiring mind and love of books, it is an accepted, if unwelcome fate. But then the new Princetown Railway opens across Dartmoor, connecting her remote hamlet to the neighbouring town of Tavistock, and even Plymouth.

Elizabeth Thornton has every reason to want to escape from home - a farm in the wilds of Dartmoor. Since her father’s death, she’s been trapped in the clutches of her uncle. When a position opens up at Rosebank Hall, she jumps at the chance. She will be a domestic drudge with a cantankerous master. Elizabeth wants to be a doctor, but she’ll do anything to be free of her uncle. One night, the master’s son turns up, wounded in a conflict in a foreign country - damaged in every way. But as Elizabeth nurses him back to life, the pair grow closer and everything changes.

Dartmoor, 1914. Twenty-four-year-old Marianne Warrington is in danger of being left on the shelf. That's what her mother says, and that’s precisely how she wants it. She has her future mapped out, and it doesn’t include marriage or babies. Instead, she vows to devote herself to rearing horses on her parents’ farm. Then World War One breaks out, and the Warringtons’ peaceful existence is shattered forever. Amid the chaos, Marianne seizes her chance to prove she’s more than just a spinster.

Work at Price's Candle Factory in Battersea is tedious for intelligent 17-year-old Hillie Hardwick, but she knows she is lucky to have a job at all. Her home life is no better, as she constantly battles with her exacting and bullying father in order to protect her mother and five younger siblings from his abuse. Her only solace is her loving relationship with the chaotic Parker family and her best friend, Gert Parker.

Manchester, 1867. Mara longs for a peaceful life free of violence and poverty. But she has married into the O'Hara family, who have a reputation for their drunkenness and quick tempers. Her eldest stepson, Conrad, is the worst of them all - a brute and a criminal who makes Mara's life a misery. But then Conrad is accused of a crime he didn't commit, and Mara is the only one who can prove his innocence. Perhaps this is her chance to finally free her family from his toxic influence.... 

Yorkshire, 1864. The daughter of a wealthy Yorkshire landowner, Anna Thornton leads a privileged life but longs to be accepted for the independent woman she is. When she meets Matt Cowan, she thinks she has met her soul mate. However, he’s not the man she thinks he is. After he sets sail for South America, Anna discovers she’s pregnant. Heartbroken, she flees her family home to keep her child’s illegitimacy a secret. As she starts to settle into her new life, Brenton O’Mara - who has turned his back on his father’s wealth - seeks work as a labourer at Anna’s new home....

Halifax, 1876. On the death of her mother and sister, Isabelle Gibson is left to fend for herself and her brother in a privately run workhouse. After the matron's son attacks her, Isabelle decides to escape by agreeing to marry a farmer she has never met. But Farrell is a drunkard and in constant feud with his landlord, Ethan Harrington. When he deserts her, Isabelle and Ethan are thrown together. But both are married and must hide their growing love. 

Australia, 1853. Settled in the colony, Ellen is determined to make a happy new life for her family and forget the horrors of famine-struck Ireland. Married for security, she works hard developing their estate in order to give her children the privileged life they could have only imagined back home. However, danger lurks when a man from her past threatens her beloved sons; and when her marriage begins to crumble, all that she thought was safe is suddenly in jeopardy. 

West Yorkshire, 1901. When Eli Simmonite takes in a heavily pregnant woman fleeing from peril, he feels sure no good will come of it. After all, settled folk don't need much reason to take against the travellers, so having one seek safety amongst his people is unheard of. When danger comes knocking, they leave devastation in their wake. Eli is left with the baby girl and his orphaned grandson; a reminder of the offer of aid that cost him his family. With no kin but the adopted family who hold her responsible for their demise, Rosie is filled with questions of her past.

For Abigail Chiswell, the Colne river front in Colchester, Essex, is a second home. With its own sights and sounds - of crowded quaysides, fishing smacks and packed oyster barrels - it means more to her than all the lofty rooms and comforts of her father's home. When she falls for local fisherman Matthew Bateman, Abigail's family loyalty is stretched to breaking point. While Hiltop House represents the pinnacle of her father's wealth and success, for Abigail its very luxury keeps her from the life - and the man - she loves.   

Following the untimely death of her husband, Beatrix and her three children are finally free. While Ambrose has already determined his path in life, eldest son Laurie's future is less certain. Meanwhile, headstrong and independent Alicia is defying expectation and excelling at school. There, she befriends the enigmatic Olivia Snowdon and they quickly become inseparable. But Olivia's family past is shrouded in mystery and as she begins to dig deeper secrets come tumbling out.

Abandoned by their parents and left to fight for themselves, headstrong Rosalind Carey has no choice but to take charge of her younger brothers and sister in Devonshire’s grand Rockwood Castle. But their once much-loved home is crumbling like the family that lives within it. Living hand to mouth and desperate to provide for the estate that depends on them, the Carey family are one debt away from ruin. Until the day comes when the dashing Piers Blanchard appears on their doorstep from Cornwall, claiming he is Rosalind’s distant cousin and that Rockwood Castle is his.

Nine-year-old Flora didn’t ask to be born into a life of hardship and suffering. When her mother sells her to the owner of the Great Hotel as a scullery maid, Flora learns the value of her life: eight shillings. Life in the Great Hotel is unspeakable. For years, Flora works constantly, half starved and constantly driven by the cruel cook and malicious hotel owner. She would lose hope entirely, were it not for the sweet, gentle boy who visits the Great Hotel from time to time.  

A new century brings change to Eden Harris's ordered world. Despite years of service to the Bradburys, she hides a secret that would affect them all. When an enemy returns, her world is shattered and her secret exposed. Torn and provoked, she strains to protect her family until a devastating accident leaves her alone and frightened. As the threat against her grows, Eden takes her precious daughters and flees from the only place she's called home. But her attempt to start anew is not so simple. 

Abigail Beadle has given two decades of her life to caring for her late father and looking after the centuries-old family home. She has never married because Lucas Chadwick, the man she loved when she was young, left the village with his family. When her loathed stepmother dies, Abigail is glad to be released from the woman's nagging and bullying, but the will she left casts doubt on Abigail's inheritance. It is not until Lucas returns to the village and helps to get to the bottom of the complicated situation that Abigail begins to believe her life might be able to start at last.