Cornwall 1864. Josh and Miriam Retallick return home from Africa to find the chimneys smokeless, the men and women hungry, and Lottie, guarding goats on Bodmin Moor, an unmistakable Trago in looks and spirit.
Josh soon takes stock of these hard times to become a new power in his native land. While Jane Trago, a sensual woman but an unfeeling mother, sweeps in like an ill wind to take up HER new trade in the local tavern.
Against the fluctuating fortunes of the Sharptor mine we follow Lottie, as she is drawn first to Jethro Shovell, a dedicated trade unionist, and then to the smooth-talking aristocratic Hawken Strike. Little knowing how heavily the sins of the mother can fall - even on a daughter as wild as the moor...