After being driven from home by their brutal father, the Willitt sisters, Mattie, Nell and Renie, find themselves facing greater heartache in the wider world. Nell has left home to be with her lover, Cliff, fearing what reprisals might come from marrying against her father's wishes. After parting ways with Mattie the couple take youngest sister Renie and head for Lancashire. However, Nell's happiness is short-lived; her marriage suffering as Cliff resents his job and the fact that though Nell has given him a daughter, she seems unable to conceive another child. When Renie leaves for London, Nell feels desperately alone. Then tragedy strikes, and Nell, mad with grief, runs away in the hope of being reunited with her two sisters. While wandering the English countryside, a gypsy palm-reader tells Nell she will still find her destiny, under 'three big trees on a hill'. Her luck seems to change when she meets Gil, a farmer and a gentleman who she can't help but feel drawn to. Could the trees on his land be a sign, or is Nell too damaged by her past to let herself love again?