The result of an affair between a nurse and an injured American soldier during the Great War, Ruby O'Hagan's early life is in an orphanage. At 16 she runs away with a farmworker, and 2 years later she is alone and homeless with her 2 daughters. Her friend Mrs. Hart leaves her big friendly house for Ruby to look after, and it is here that her life unfolds. Her children leave but return when tragedy befalls them, and through all this the enigmatic Matthew Flynn drifts in and out of Ruby's life.