1945: The war was over, and the families who lived in Magnolia Square could look forward to their men coming home and their lives returning to normal.

But for some, the end of the war brought serious problems. Kate Voigt was at last able to marry Leon Emmerson, the man she loved, a Londoner like herself, but of mixed race. When old man Harvey, a powerful and wealthy figure in South London and great-grandfather to Kate's small son, heard of the match he was determined that young Matthew should not be raised by Leon. Slowly, insidiously, he began the fight to wrest Kate's son away from her.

And for Jewish refugee Christina, who had married Jack Robson, a commando and the handsomest man in the Square, the end of the war brought its own special torment. She was convinced that her mother and grandmother had somehow escaped the holocaust and were alive. It seemed that her determination to find them could put everything, even her marriage, at risk.

As Magnolia Square, scarred and battered, but still surviving, prepared to enjoy the ''Peace'', so the inhabitants of the Square begin to try and rebuild their lives.