Olivia Coulson is pretty and determined enough to attract any man. She is torn between two suitors, George Chilton-Brookes, heir to the Cropton estate, and handsome gentleman farmer, Kit Fernley. When George rejects her, she marries Kit, but remains determined to make George regret his slight.

Lydia Middleton's future seems bright as she looks forward to marrying her childhood sweetheart, David Drayton. This match between Whitby's foremost ship-owning families is heartily approved until Mr Middleton loses his fortune and later his life, and the Draytons reconsider the whole idea.

It is 1802, and when her beloved father dies, Lucy Mitchell's curiosity is fired by his last words, "the de Northbys owe you." Who are the de Northbys and why do they "owe" the Mitchells? Her mother says he was too sick and confused to make sense but Lucy undertakes some investigations of her own.

Young David Feernley is determined to escape the drudgery of his life as a Yorkshire farmhand. Setting off for the coast, his aim is to join the whaling fleet at Whitby, to earn his living on the stormy and icy Arctic seas. Although he has few sailing skills, a Captain soon recognises his worth - for David is strong and unafraid of danger.
David is followed to the small fishing town by Ruth, his childhood sweetheart, her heart set on marriage. Passionate and proud, she is sure to be a worthy wife. Yet David is drawn to another's betrothed: the pretty, gentle Jenny. And it is Jenny's...

Whitby farmer, John Dugdale, is involved with a local band of smugglers, seeing it as an easy and harmless way of making money. But John is shocked when Mark Roper - his daughter Emma's childhood sweetheart - turns up on a secret mission for the local excise officer.
Emma is forced to face the harsh realities of a world she never knew existed, and must also decide who it is she really Ioves; the dependable Joe, or the handsome schoolboy, who has disappeared from her life.

Recently widowed, Katherine Chambers takes her young son to visit her husband's family when disaster strikes. The ship they are sailing on runs into a severe storm off Robin Hood's Bay on the Yorkshire Coast. Among the bodies on the beach, a survivor is found. Identified as Katherine from the engraving on the bracelet she wears on her wrist, she has no knowledge of who she is or where she is from. Dr. Bennett, the local doctor in Robin Hood's Bay, is called in but though he can treat Katherine's cuts and physical ailments, there is little he can do to heal the gaps in her memory. Determined...

French-born Marie Gabin forms a friendship with Veronica Attwood in their final two years at school, but this is tested when Marie is forced to disclose a secret to her friend. In the shadow of this revelation, the girls grow up on a country estate in North Yorkshire. The First World War takes its toll when Marie loses the man she loves and Veronica's husband suffers injuries which eventually leave her a widow, but she finds consolation in her love for the land. Returning to France, Marie marries her childhood sweetheart, but once again life brings involvement in war for the two friends....

The year is 1850, and Susannah Charlesworth loves the estate and open air life of the North Lincolnshire Wolds. She stands to become a very rich woman too - inheriting the estate, as well as her father's and uncle's wealth, one day. But then she meets the dashing Daniel Bullen and Susannah's life is about to change forever.
As the eldest son, Daniel will take over his father's mill. He sees it as providing for a lifestyle he wants to pursue, but in order to avoid jeopardising the fortune that awaits him, Daniel must be careful how he conducts himself . . . and a marriage to Susannah will...