On the day that World War II ends in Europe, Mayor George Boswell recalls events of the previous 25 years in his home town of Browdley. As councilman and newspaper editor George has fought hard to better working and living conditions in the bleak Lancashire mill town. As a young man he meets and marries Olivia Channing, whose father was jailed in a scandal involving the mill he owned. Olivia is ambitious and manages to guide George within striking distance of a seat in Parliament. But an outbreak of diphtheria changes George's outlook, and his and Olivia's lives change forever.