1923: Jarrow, Tyneside. Catherine McMullen, or Kitty as she is known, is seventeen, restless and rebellious. Furious with her mother Kate for marrying a common seaman, Catherine is thrilled when her aunt divulges the secret Kate fought hard to protect - the identity of Catherine's father. The revelation that he was a wealthy gentleman fuels Catherine's desire to better herself and escape her squalid surroundings. Taking a job at the workhouse laundry, Catherine is further confronted by the horrors and indignities of poverty. She decides that the only way out is to educate herself and she spends every spare moment reading. It's not long before the streetwise Kitty McMullen is a ghost from the past, and the well-spoken, well-read Catherine leaves the north-east to follow her dreams. But there is hardship and heatbreak to overcome before Catherine finds the happiness she longs for...