In the summer of 1914, as clouds of war gather over Europe, the Cartwrights of Hilltop House in the West End of Glasgow are secure in their life of wealth and privilege. Meanwhile the Watsons are fighting a losing battle against hunger, unemployment and poverty in the slums of the Gorbals. Their lives are changed forever by a chance meeting between Virginia Watson, a kitchen maid at Hilltop House, and Nicholas Cartwright, heir to the Cartwright fortune. Their illicit romance has hardly begun when war breaks out and Nicholas has to leave to face the horrors of the Western front...