Lizzie Kershaw is an independent spirit; ever since her father's death she has had to be a survivor. Home life is harsh, though, and desperate to escape it, she makes an ill-advised marriage. But she discovers all-too-quickly that she's married a selfish and violent man.

His beatings never seem to stop and she soon comes to a decision: she must run far, far away. With the help of some suffragettes she escapes to Manchester, where she finds work in a munitions factory - she is finally the independent woman she has always longed to be. But her husband, whose cruelty knows no bounds, tracks her down and drag her back home to more beatings than ever.

But when his violence causes her to lose the one thing she's always wanted, Lizzie knows she must find the strength to make the changes in her life that are so sorely needed.