Life is going well for Maria. Welcomed into the Saward family, she has secured herself a job as a maid for Queen Alexandra and is living with her family in a beautiful cottage on the Royal Sandringham estate. The luxuries and privilege associated with the royal family are a far cry from the poverty and suffering she endured before, though the royals, like the nation, are tightening their belts. But when a mysterious relative turns up, seemingly on the run from the law, Maria's new-found happiness could be under threat.

Meanwhile, World War I is raging, and the daughters of Harry Saward, the royal station master, are doing their bit for the war effort. Ada's beloved husband Alfie is away on the front line, leaving her to care for their young son alone. Beatrice, a nurse in a local cottage hospital, is faced with the daily horror of young men wounded in battle, whilst mourning the loss of her first love, Sam. And Jessie is transforming Queen Alexandra's flower garden at Wolferton Station into a vegetable plot to help with food shortages, all the while longing for the return of her sweetheart, Jack.

In a village torn apart by tragedy, how will the family survive the many challenges that war brings, and find the happiness they're all searching for?