Pretty Amy Curran was just 18 years old when she met Barney Patterson, the love of her life, on Southport pier in 1939. Their romantic, passionate marriage was made in heaven, or so they both believed. But when Britain declared war on Germany, Barney hastily volunteered to fight, and the couple were eventually separated for five long years. When he returned to Liverpool after VE Day he wasn't the same person—and neither was Amy. But how could things have become so twisted that one day Amy would kill the husband she once so adored? And what happened to their little girl, Pearl, just five years old at the time? By 1971 Amy has spent 20 years in prison for Barney's murder. Now she is about to be released—although her freedom will change the lives of others, not least that of her daughter, whom she hasn't seen in two decades. But Pearl has her own demons to exorcise in her quest for happiness. And the greatest question she must ask herself is this: can she ever love her mother after what she did?