Ella Dryden has always lived in London's East End. It's 1952, and her husband Dennis wants to take her and their two children to live in Epsom in Surrey. But the move will leave her at the mercy of Dennis's erratic behavior, his beatings and his shady financial dealings. Ella decides not to go with him, and learning that Dennis has got another woman pregnant confirms her decision. But staying in the East End, Ella has to make changes: she finds a job and makes the best of herself, and is asked out by Sam. Meanwhile, Dennis is not the same man he once was. Ella is the woman he first fell in love with and he wants her back. But will she have him