In the backstreets of Liverpool, Eileen Watson lives with her mother Nellie, daughter Mel and three tearaway sons. Life isn't great, but they have each other, and family can get you through anything. Or can they? Then, Britain declares war on Germany and their lives change forever. The children have to be evacuated, but Mel refuses to go, and so Eileen says goodbye to her mother and sons, moves from the street they love and faces a future without most of the people in her precious family. Thus begins a journey for them all, filled with forbidden love and tragedy.