Tom, who was previously an Accountant in the shipping office of Cunard, has arrived home from the second world war to his wife Martha and their two children, Brian who is five and Janey eleven.

Because of the terrible conditions in the concentration camp in which he was imprisoned by the Germans, Tom contracts TB and is subsequently admitted to a sanitarium leaving Martha to care for the family.

Tom's mother who lives in style in Belgravia does not endear herself to anyone and blames her son's ill health on his enlistment in the war. However, Martha's mother is the complete opposite to Grandma Johnson, and Brian and Janey adore visiting her in the school holidays.

In Martha's struggle to care for her family, she is supported by her gossipy but kind neighbour, Ethel, who lives next door and likes to play Bingo at the local hall.

Tom dies of TB, but he did not die alone as Edward, the kind doctor at the sanitarium had been with him in his final moments.

Will Martha be able to support herself and her two children with no husband? Will she find love again when everything looks so hopeless?