Cissie Brodie grew up in rugged northern England in the early 1800s. She has just turned sixteen when disaster strikes: a cholera epidemic claims the lives of both her parents. Suddenly, as the eldest, Cissie has to take care of her five siblings. There seems to be no choice but to knock on the poorhouse's door. But Cissie doesn't think it would break up the family and desperately searches for a solution.