With her husband in the army, mother-of-four Babs sends three of her darlings to the country and goes back to work. Her routine is disrupted, however, when a charming American news photographer comes into her life. Rosie's job as a factory worker is marred by the taunts of her snobbish co-workers. Eager to start a family but fearful of passing on her deafness to her children, she blames her husband for her unhappiness and risks not only her marriage but her future because of it. Wealthy and self assured, Polly manages her husband's shady empire, conducts a loveless affair with a lawyer, and tries to forget that her children now live with their father in New York. But Dominic explodes back into her life and Polly is forced to choose between loyalty and betrayal, and, as bombs begin to fall, tragedy overtakes the Conway girls.