The upheaval of the Second World War reverberated in the peace that followed, and many found a return to the old life more difficult than they had anticipated Like Sam Richardson, who was determined to break free of the constraints of his background and leave Cumbria for Australia His wife, Ellen realises how close to the brink their marriage had come Between them their young son Joe strives to fulfil the conflicting expectations of childhood and adolescence and confronts his own demons