Maeve Brannigan is only eighteen when she leaves her rural home in County Donegal and moves to Birmingham, where she falls in love with handsome Brendan Hogan. But married life isn't as idyllic as she'd imagined. Saddled with a violent husband and with two young'uns needing her protection, Maeve bears her life as best she can. She flees back to Ireland but her presence is greeted with open hostility by the close- knit catholic community.