There are some things which even the closest friendship cannot survive.... Neighbours Edie Kelsey and Lil Horton have been friends for more than twenty years, sharing the joys and sorrows of tough lives as the wives of fishermen in Grimsby. So it was no surprise that their children were close and that Edie's son, Frank, and Lil's daughter, Irene, would fall in love and marry at a young age. But the declaration of war in 1939 changes everything. Frank goes off to fight, and Irene and baby Tommy, along with Edie's youngest son, are sent to the countryside for safety. With Edie's husband, Archie, fishing the dangerous waters in the North Sea and daughter Beth in London doing "important war work", Edie's family is torn apart. Friendship sustains Edie and Lil, but tragedy follows, and there's concern that Beth seems to have disappeared. But it is Irene's return, during the VE day celebrations, that sends shockwaves through the family and threatens to tear Edie and Lil's friendship apart forever.
