Brighton 1963. Mary Pickles and I walked along the street with our arms linked, looking in shop windows. We were best friends and together we were invincible. Dottie and Mary forged a friendship over a bag of penny sweets when they were eight years old. They've shared everything together since then - the highs and lows of school, family dramas, hopes and dreams and now, at seventeen, they're both shop girls, working at Woolworths. As they go out in the world in pursuit of love and happiness, the simplicity of their childhood dissolves as life becomes more complicated. The heady excitement...

Brighton 1969: Dottie Perks steps off the train and breathes in the sea air, the smell of fish and chips, and the precious childhood memories of a friend and place she'll never forget.

Dottie Perks has forged a new life for herself in London, a new job and sweet boyfriend Joe to keep her warm at night. She's safe, happy and loved. What more could she ask for?

But when Dottie returns home to Brighton for a family celebration, the last person she expects to see is her first love; the boy who stole her heart... and broke it....

Brighton 1930: Maureen O'Connell is a carefree girl, but her family is on the brink of tragedy, war is looming and life will never be the same again.

Jack and Nelson have always been dear friends to Maureen. Despite their different backgrounds, they've seen each other through thick and thin.

As Maureen blossoms from a little girl into a young woman, the candle she's always held for Jack burns bright. But just as she's found love, war wrenches them apart. The man she cherishes with all her heart...