It is prior to WW11 and Dorothy unexpectedly meets a young man, called Harry, at the local dance hall. They are instantly attracted and ultimately marry. After the outbreak of war Harry joins the RAF but sadly he is killed in action. Dorothy receives the happy news that she is pregnant with their first child, unaware of Harry's death. She also suffers the loss of their home in a bombing attack on Hull. Dorothy idolises her baby daughter but on recovering from her grief she realises life has to go on so when she is proposed to by Richard she accepts. She does not realise the marriage is going to have dire consequences on her relationship with her daughter, Elizabeth. Things go from bad to worse when Dorothy has two sons in quick succession. By the time she is a teenager, Elizabeth goes totally off the rails in order to seek the show of love she yearns from her mother. It is only at Dorothy's premature death, caused by cancer, does Elizabeth understand the true definition of love.