It's 1909 and Molly May, her husband lost at sea and presumed dead, has escaped from her cruel in-laws in Liverpool along the Leeds-Liverpool canal to Burscough Bridge. Here she gives birth to a baby girl.

Handsome widower Nathan Collins employs her as a wet-nurse to his daughter Jessica. But tragedy strikes when Jessica is found dead in her cot. Molly is terrified that she will be accused of murder, so when her own daughter is mistaken for Jessica, she is unable to tell the truth. Acting as a nanny to her own child isn't as hard as Molly imagined, especially as her relationship with Nathan deepens. But there is trouble ahead. Nathan's scheming mother Dorothy wastes no opportunity to remind Molly of her lowly position. And how can Molly win Nathan who, because of her lies, is raising another man's child as his own?