The Devonshire village of Ford is full of excitement and curiosity at the arrival of their new doctor, the dashing young Scotsman Jamie Murray. Among the fluttering female hearts are sisters Maggs and Crista Fletcher. And though Maggs frequents the local pub in the hope of a chance meeting with the young doctor, it is Crista to whom Jamie has taken a shine. Not that Maggs is exactly drinking on her own. Her admirers include Dickie Trippett, her childhood sweetheart, now scarred for life in the First World War, and handsome, confident, and rich Rupert Swain, son and heir to the local paper mill. As Maggs and Crista's lives progress, they come to realize that those young, seemingly carefree days have in fact shaped their entire destinies.