Nuneaton, 1904

Abandoned on the steps of the workhouse shortly after her birth, little Annie never felt the love of a family. When she's taken from the only world she has known to a smart home on Swan Lane, she dares to hope her life might be changing for the better. But hope is fragile. Grieving the loss of her own child, Maggie Lilburn didn't adopt Annie out of kindness - she wants her as a servant, not a daughter.

Despite Maggie's coldness, Annie finds flickers of warmth elsewhere: in the bond with her adopted brothers and in the quiet kindness of Maggie's husband Levi, the local rag-and-bone man. He sees Annie's potential and takes her under his wing and into his trade. As Maggie crumbles beneath the weight of her sorrow, Annie is determined to hold the fractured family together - and carve out a place of her own.

Through all of this one question remains for Annie: who were her parents and why did they abandon her at the workhouse all those years ago?