World War I ended well for the Franklins, prosperous Clydeside shipbuilders. But trouble is brewing behind their respectable facade. Maeve McCulloch has arrived from Ireland, to the dismay of her aunt Lindsay. Maeve's mother caused nothing but grief and heartache for Lindsay and it seems that Maeve may do the same. Meanwhile, Lindsay's husband has been swept off his feet by wealthy, manipulative Stella Pickering. And Lindsay herself is torn when handsome navy hero Geoffrey Paget unexpectedly walks back into her life. Then the slump of the 1920s begins to bite in Glasgow and troubles both financial and personal invade all their lives.