Alice moves to the village of Churchwood with her retired father just as WWII breaks out. She is desperate to be useful but, nursing both an injured hand and a broken heart, she expects her prospects of finding employment are poor, and worries that she wont fit in with her new community. Kate lives with her family on Brimbles Farm, where her father and brothers treat her no better than a servant. With no mother or sisters, and shunned by the locals, Kate longs for a friend of her own. Naomi is a wealthy take-charge sort of woman, who is looked up to for owning the best house in the village. But privately, she carries the hurts of childlessness, a husband who has little time for her and a deep-rooted insecurity. Can starting up The Wartime Bookshop bring these three women, and the community of Churchwood, together?