Joss McIntyre is master of the Boulders Wood estate that his family has farmed for more than six generations. He is a hard man, his temper shaped by Victorian values and the harsh Yorkshire landscape in which he and his family live.

Despite his attempts to control all those around him, Joss's young daughter, Annie, falls pregnant. As her child, Poppy, grows up Joss's true nature emerges - with tragic consequences for the family.

Will Poppy survive the sometimes brutal events that beset Boulders Wood? Will the McIntyre sons, Joseph and Ross, manage to save the farm in the face of the rapid economic and social changes of the late nineteenth century and their father's intransigence? Or will hidden family secrets ruin everything?