Alice O'Connor's family is the poorest of the poor in Benledi Street, in the heart of Liverpool's toughest slum. Her bullying father drinks what little he earns whilst her careworn mother, Nelly, works when she can and begs when she can't. Since the age of five, Alice has also begged around Liverpool Docks but she has always had a stubborn optimism that keeps her head up high even in her lowest moments. For she has a gift that allows her to rise above her fate. Alice O'Connor can sing like an angel. One day her father's violence gets too much and, at the age of seventeen, Alice leaves home. She encounters David Williamson, a well-to-do young officer on the Cunard liner Aquitania, who leaves her with a dream of following him to America, and a golden guinea with which to fulfil it. But penniless in a strange country, reality quickly hits her. She does return to Liverpool, in triumph, but even then grief and heartache await her, until a horrific accident ironically opens her eyes to real love and happiness.