Veronica feared she would be too old to marry or ever bear children until she met Richard, a handsome RAF pilot. He persuaded her to marry before he went to war. She was jealous when her sister Rachel produced an illegitimate child from an unknown father.

The Blitz bombing from the Germans left much of London in ruins. Before the onslaught, Veronica arranged for the evacuation of Rachel’s daughter, Susie, to live with her in the country. Rachel was presumed killed by a bomb in the Blitz, so Susie grew up thinking Veronica was her mother and the absent Richard her father.

Veronica, similar to many other women left alone, learned new survival skills with the deprivation of rationing. She learned to love Susie as her own. Loneliness, with war-forced separation from her husband, took a toll on her.

When the war ended, Richard returned to a wife and an adopted child he barely knew. They struggled to adjust to each other. Richard’s alcoholism and outbursts of aggression, as side-effects of battle fatigue (PTSD), began to alienate Veronica and Susie.

Veronica despaired when the family appeared to disintegrate.

The truth emerged about Richard’s issues, and Veronica’s and Rachel’s guilt and secrecy. Compassion for each other softened the anger. The family began to reconnect and forgive. Susie, an opinionated teenager began to accept but not forgive.