Set in 1870s Yorkshire it is the story of a young widow and her young stepson
When she is widowed, Caroline Flynn is forced to move to Stoops End,
the worst slum in the Yorkshire, West Riding town of
Fesley. She gets work as a general help in Adam Cochrane's
pub where she, and her stepson Danny, encounter the intense hatred
of Lillian Roth, Adam's intended. Her plots and schemes are aimed at
bringing ruin and disgrace to the Flynns, and they both must struggle to
keep their good reputation. Lillian Roth blames Danny for stealing old Mrs Cochrane's jewelry
and causes such fear in him that he runs away and ends up in a remote farmhouse as a
prisoner of the murderous Noah Grisedale. Danny is present when Noah kills his wife in a fit of
rage, and he decides he must somehow escape. But can he find his way back to Fesley? Will
Caroline be able to prove her and Danny's innocence?
Throughout all these trials Caroline's landlord Ethan Barnes is a loyal friend and it is in Stoops
End where she discovers that she has learned to love the one man who stood by her.
