1941. The Isle of Dogs. Neglected by their drunken mother, 8-year-old Bella Doyle and her brother Terry are left to roam the streets, fending for themselves and skipping school with ease. They make friends with the local likely lad, Micky Bryant, and become a part of his gang. After the war, Bella marries Micky, helping him run his business as a seedy club owner and manufacturing illegal hooch. Thus Bella finds herself drawn into a life of crime, trying to keep one step ahead of the law, cope with her husband's increasingly wayward behaviour, and struggling to control her growing feelings for his elder brother, Ronnie. It's only when a shocking tragedy occurs that Bella realizes she must seize control of events in order to escape the squalor of the East End and shape her own destiny.