High above the river stood the small terrace of miners' cottages known as Fenwick Houses. Here, during the hazardous years of the Depression, lived Christine Winter, a girl blessed - or cursed - with that indefinable appeal that drives men to the brink of obsession. Three men dominated her life: her brother Ronnie; Sam, whose devotion was deep and loyal; and Don Dowling, cruel and tormented, who made it his life's ambition to possess her. To Ronnie and Sam, she was joined by a thread of harmony; but Don was the needle through which the thread was drawn, and the point was sharp and deadly...Then, one day, a stranger came to the river bank and Christine found herself changed beyond recall.