Born out of wedlock when her mother was only fourteen, Lucy Pocket has spent all her life with her disreputable grandmother, Eva. They are always in debt and resorting to theft in order to exist. Until her wealthy paternal grandfather buys her from Eva, determined to bring Lucy up to be a lady. When her grandfather dies, his despicable nephew cheats Lucy out of her inheritance, except for a run-down lodging house in Whitechapel, forcing Lucy to look after his three illegitimate children. Lucy is determined to make a life for herself, to search for her long-lost grandmother, creating the family she has always longed for.
