1945: The war was over, & the families who lived in Magnolia Square could look forward to their men coming home & their lives returning to normal. But for some, the end of the war brought serious problems. Kate Voigt was at last able to marry Leon Emmerson, the man she loved, a Londoner like herself, but of mixed race. When old man Harvey, a powerful & wealthy figure in South London & great-grandfather to Kate`s small son, heard of the match he was determined that young Matthew should not be raised by Leon. Slowly, insidiously, he began the fight to wrest Kate`s son away from her. & for Jewish refugee Christina, who had married Jack Robson, a commando & the handsomest man in the Square, the end of the war brought its own special torment. She was convinced that her mother & grandmother had somehow escaped the holocaust & were alive. It seemed that her determination to find them could put everything, even her marriage, at risk. As Magnolia Square, scarred & battered, but still surviving, prepared to enjoy the ` Peace`, so the inhabitants of the Square begin to try & rebuild their lives.