Ellie Walsh lives in a battlefield. Her out-of-work father, selfish sisters and violent, bitter mother, Ruby, are constantly fighting - and Ellie is always caught in the crossfire. So when a charming customer, Leonard Kent, comes into the local tearoom where she is a waitress, she is flattered by his attention. And when he reveals he plays the piano in a West End club by night, she is thrilled by the glamorous life she imagines him leading - so far removed from the grind of poverty-stricken Rotherhithe.

But though she is increasingly attracted to Leonard, Ellie has secretly never...