Maud Powell and her cousin Diana had always dreamed of becoming nurses, but their hopes are shattered when Maud contracts TB - a death sentence in 1930s' Pontypridd. With pits closing, Haydn abandoning a steady job for a stage career, and their cousin Diana's secret burden, the Powell family are facing hard times. Meanwhile Ronnie Ronconi, eldest of the large, cafe-owning family, has two simple beliefs: his sisters must marry good Italian Catholics, and determination and hard work will get him anything he wants. But his dreams are shattered when he realises that what he wants is Welsh, chapel-going, consumptive Maud. For once, high-handed, ruthless Ronnie seems to be facing the impossible...