Set in Glasgow at the turn of the century, it tells the story of Kirsty Barnes and Craig Nicholson as they struggle to find security and happiness in the cruel world of Glasgow's back streets. Kirsty - an "orphan brat" - escapes from her life as a servant on a remote Scottish farm to be with her childhood sweetheart, Craig. Defying his possessive mother, they travel to Glasgow; with little money, and still strangers to each other, they set up together in a "marriage" that is never made legal. -Goodreads.