It is 1953 and five girls are arriving to start their training at St Angelus Hospital. Dana has escaped from her family farm in Ireland. Victoria is running away from an aristocratic background. Beth is an army brat and throws her lot in with bitchy Celia Forsyth and Pammy has come from the wrong side of the tracks. When an unknown girl is admitted after a botched backstreet abortion, a tragedy begins to unfold which will rock the world of St Angelus to its foundations.