Prudence, Derwa and Ewat are three women born of the North Yorkshire Moors. Their lives are tied in with and flowing by the River Esk, and the wild relentless moors. The 1800s are tough for the working and agricultural classes of England. Living in cramped cottages, sometimes hand to mouth survival and praying for a healthy constitution to see them through.
And yet there is adventure and intrigue, woven into the old folklore and fairytales, and tales of people long passed. Smugglers, thieves, criminals and murderers intermingle with the young brides, the children, embittered wives, emigrants and young women hoping that their lives will be better than those who came before them
Prudence, one of the few survivors in her family of a childhood fever, marries a man of few words who looks to offer a reliable yet dull future. Shades of the underworld from the coast are creeping after him.
Derwa, shamed by society's double standards has to recreate her life on the other side of the county.
Ewat, aimless but amicable is trying to find a way to avoid the emigrant ships setting off to Canada.