In 1942, two young women give birth in a home for unmarried mothers. Thirteen years later, Dorothy Wilson is a successful actress, offered her first major role in a feature film. But it will mean spending time apart from her policeman boyfriend Sam - when all Sam wants to do is settle down and start a family. Should Dorothy give up her dreams of stardom to stay in Liverpool and become a full-time wife and mother? Meanwhile, Lynne Donegan, having lost her childhood sweetheart in the war, is bringing up her daughter on her own, eking out a meagre living as a dressmaker. Dorothy and Lynne's lives are destined to intertwine in ways they could never have expected. For both women are keeping secrets from their loved ones: secrets that are destined to burst into the open, changing the two women's lives forever.