The Irish Darcy family lives in the Surry Hills district of Sydney in the 1940s. The Darcys are a poor working-class family, consisting of Mumma, father Hughie, grandmother Kilker and daughters Roie and Dolour. The story focuses on the first and last love of daughter Roie, who has to become a woman too quickly amid the ruins, gangs, brothels and illegal liquor sellers of Surry Hills.