Golden-haired, sunny-natured Amy is the apple of her mother's eye, youngest and dearest of Annie Flanagan's lively brood of thirteen. With the outbreak of World War II the Flanagan family is sundered, shaken from their crowded nest in London's East End. Joe is soon made a sergeant, fighting in France. Billy volunteers for the Army Transport, young Dan fulfills his dreams and joins the RAF. The young ones are evacuated from the war-torn capital--the girls to Devon and the boys to a school in the Midlands they reckon is worse than Colditz The war brings tragedy--even the old home is in ruins, bombed and shell-splintered. It's Amy, with her fierce courage and determination, who pulls the family back together. Then handsome Sparky, full of wicked charm and Cockney banter, walks into her life and wins her heart. Turbulent happy years follow; times of great joy for Amy and times of bitter heart-rending when family ties war against the needs of her feckless darling husband . . .