When the Bough Breaks

Westways is a market garden run by Dennis and Kathie Hawthorne. In the summer of 1939 they are utterly content. They adore Jess, their five-year-old only child and share the work of the market garden. But with Dennis a member of the Territorial Army, he is called up, leaving Kathie to engage helpers and run the market garden. There, as everywhere, changes abound. Beth Machin, a waiflike and unwanted child, is billeted at Westways where she finds love and kindness. Kathie's own narrow existence widens and her confidence grows, but previously unknown emotions are stirred as her world falls apart around her...