"From the popular author of Kane and Abel and A Prisoner of Birth comes the story of one family across generations, across oceans, from heartbreak to triumph. The epic tale of Harry Clifton's life begins in 1920, with the words, "I was told that my father was killed in the war." A dock worker in Bristol, Harry never knew his father, but he learns about life on the docks from his uncle who expects Harry to join him at the shipyard once he's left school....

When Elizabeth Bennet meets Fitzwilliam Darcy for the first time at a ball, she writes him off as an arrogant and obnoxious man. He not only acts like an insufferable snob, but she also overhears him rejecting the very idea of asking her for a dance! As life pits them against each other again and again, Darcy begins to fall for Elizabeth's wit and intelligence and Elizabeth begins to question her feelings about Darcy. But when Darcy saves her youngest...

Achieving wealth and success through his savage ambitions, tycoon Rhys Winterborne resolves to marry shy, aristocratic Lady Helen Ravenel, who in spite of her gentle upbringing responds to Rhys' seductions with her own unexpected passions.

Giles Barrington discovers the truth about his wife, Karin. Harry Clifton sets out to write his magnum opus, while his wife, Emma, completes her term as chairman of the Bristol Royal Infirmary and receives an unexpected job offer. Sebastian Clifton becomes chairman of Farthings Kaufman bank after Hakim Bishara has to resign. Sebastian and Samantha's daughter, Jessica, is expelled from the Slade School of Fine Art, but her aunt Grace comes to her rescue....