Having spent the Second World War with his adored mother Lizzie in their country village, ten-year-old Lewis Aldridge is thrilled to welcome Gilbert, the father he barely knows, from the fighting. Unlike free-spirited, gin-loving Lizzie, Gilbert is reserved but Lewis is not an unhappy child, making a special friend of Kit, rebellious daughter of Gilbert's partner Dicky Carmichael. Then disaster strikes. Lizzie drowns in a swimming accident, for which Lewis feels largely responsible, and, within the year, Gilbert has married the younger Alice, who tries to befriend Lewis though the boy feels alienated, a state which continues into his teens and he hits out at anybody who criticizes his mother. His only friend, Kit, is herself damaged whilst Alice unsuccessfully tries to keep Lewis's self-harming from his father. A despairing Lewis finds himself in a church where he starts a fire and he is imprisoned for two years for arson. Written by don @ minifie-1

Lewis returns to the village from prison and Gilbert gets him a job with Dicky Carmichael but, outside of the family, Kit and her older sister Tamsin are Lewis's only true friends. They have their own problems as Carmichael is physically violent to them though after Tamsin has told Lewis that many people blame him for his mother's death her father tries to blame Lewis for her facial injuries, resulting in the boy attempting suicide again. Unable to cope Gilbert moves out and Alice, herself feeling an outcast in the village community, gets drunk and has rough sex with Lewis. They are interrupted by Kit, who reveals her father's brutality. As a result Lewis exposes Carmichael to the village and declares his feelings for Kit before leaving to do his National Service and feeling much happier. Written by don @ minifie-1