Emma Greig has seen little of the world when she abruptly leaves school at fourteen to become a maid at Bonnybrae Farm. Her new life is far away from the carefree days at school. The Sinclair family in turn welcome and reject her: Maggie is kind and warm, and the two girls quickly become close. Her brothers Jim and William are more playful, gently teasing Emma for her youthful innocence. Perhaps happiness is possible for Emma yet. But she is not allowed to get comfortable. The haughty and aloof Mrs Sinclair, disturbed by her children's friendships with the new maid, resolves to remind Emma of her place on the social divide. When Emma and William defy his controlling mother to strike up a bond, unforeseen circumstances force Emma to be sent away, and William to be banished from the farm he loves. Will the connection they share be enough to draw them together again? Can the two young lovers overcome social prejudice amidst the hard working life of the Yorkshire moors?