Jenni Goodenough's mother is determined that her daughter will not suffer the way she has done, dependent on a loveless marriage, and ensures that young Jenni is apprenticed to a dressmakers'. But soon a terrible tragedy engulfs the family, leaving Jenni alone and burdened with the stigma of her parents. Forced to live with Blodwen Thomas, a relative of her mother, Jenni finds her life transformed. Blodwen is a dour, cantankerous, strait-laced woman with no affection to offer her niece as Jenni struggles to become an indentured dressmaker. The shame of scandal still clings to her and the only way Jenni can escape it is to leave the Valleys. When a second tragedy strikes, Jenni makes her way to the town of Swansea to start a new life and perhaps to find the love she craves. But she must always live in fear of her secret, shameful past being discovered...