Welsey Cunningham grew up running barefoot through the orchards of his Quaker family farm, dreaming of one day building himself a house on his own patch of ground above the river. The Second World War interrupted those dreams. While Wes was away, life in Almond Tree continued; but everyone's been changed by the war. None more so than Beth Hardy—his headstrong, fiercely intelligent and beautiful neighbour. As Wes begins again to construct the peaceful life he's always wanted, Beth sets herself on a very different path, committing herself to the Communist Party and all it stands for. Their dreams and desires may be at odds, but Wes and Beth need each other, desperately: neither will be able to survive what life has in store without the other.