It is October 1943, and barely a year has passed since the air raid that destroyed Freddy Hinchcliffe's home in Yorkshire. Now a prisoner in German-occupied Poland, his bitterness at the loss of his family leaves him indifferent to the world outside his barbed-wire enclosure.

That is until he receives a letter from Sylvia Charlesworth, a Wren serving at the naval base HMS Wasp in south-east England. They exchange letters and their correspondence soon becomes a vital part of their lives. They learn more about each other and, as their feelings intensify, they long for the day when they will meet face to face. But they have no way of knowing how they will cope when they meet as physical strangers.