Anna Campbell, a Leith 'worthy' in the full sense of the word, never turns anyone away from her door. The condemned tenement is the home to many families in dire poverty and Anna, known as a 'wise-woman', hatches and dispatches and treats all minor ailments for her friends. She dedicates her life to raising six children, four boys and two girls who are not her own. The girls, Rachel and Bella, remain with her into adulthood and despite her care she is horrified when fifteen-year-old Bella becomes pregnant by Gus, someone she had given shelter to in his hour of need. Gus skips the country and is hotly pursued across the world and made to return to marry Bella. The bane of Anna's life is the ne'er-do-weel Gabby, Rachel's father. Little does she realise that her continuing desire for revenge against him will have such a devastating effect on Rachel and also the rest of the family.