It is 1940 and Birmingham is about to see some of the most devastating air raids of the Blitz. Two very different young women, Violet Simms and Grace Templeton, need every ounce of strength they possess to cope with the loss and tragedy surrounding them. But through the storm clouds of war they discover something that helps them through - a friendship that is to last a lifetime. Violet is a shy, lonely girl who is controlled by her widowed mother. She longs to escape and dreams of love. And Grace, a striking beauty from a family of ten children, is lively, adventurous and desperate not to be tied down by marriage and children.