Wars, depressions and political turmoils have often tested and even destroyed many families throughout history. In the difficult years which ensued between both World Wars, London's inhabitants were no exception. This is a story of one such family. A family named Cole, who actually lived in the 1930s. They faced several hardships, yet when Percy Cole, a Stevedore at St Catherin's dock, met with a life-changing accident, Jackie, his wife, had to use all her cunning to save the family from the poor house.

With five children to feed, Mary, their youngest child, had to enter Reedham orphanage, being closely followed by her brother Roy, where they too fought their own separate battles with an alien establishment.

On the death of Percy, Walter Cole, the wealthy yet estranged father-in-law, tried to blackmail Jackie. When poverty gripped even harder, he finally offered her a lifeline, a lifeline with strings attached. Dare she trust him, or should she walk away...