Lily Pickford is just sixteen when her violent father throws her out of the house. Her first few nights are spent sleeping rough in Southampton's sleazy docklands, but her luck turns when stallholder Rachel Cohen gives her work and a place to stay where she regularly encounters Vittorio Teglia, a local villain who desires her. Her happiness is complete when she meets Tom McCann, a wild Irishman who only has eyes for Lily. When Lily is tragically forced to walk away from her new life, she is driven to the streets and prostitution, dreading the day that Tom discovers what she's become. A day that dawns all too soon...