For three generations, Rochford Manor has dominated the lives of the women who live there.

Willow became its chatelaine at seventeen. Her daughter, Lucy Rochford, taken from her mother and her home as an infant, fought long and hard to return to the life that should have been hers within its walls. For Zandra Rochford, Willow's young niece, the house became a place of sanctuary after the tragic death of her parents. But when the Rochfords' family business falls victim to the Wall Street Crash, the future looks bleak and Rochford Manor itself is threatened....

Young, headstrong and wilful, Zandra marries her first love, Anthony Wisson, believing that his success and strength of character match his good looks and extraordinary generosity. She is unaware that it is her connection to the respected Rochford family which have prompted his offer of marriage. As her eyes are slowly opened to the truth of her husband's cruelty, she turns more frequently to Guy Bristow, her husband's personal assistant, whose values and ideals match her own. On the outbreak of the second World War, Guy is captured at Dunkirk and now not only he but all the members of the Rochford family face terrible danger as the German invasion becomes imminent....