In 1937, with Britain preparing for war, eighteen-year-old Libby Shakespeare finds employment as a shorthand typist at the offices of a Black Country steelworks. There, she meets Bunty Burgayne, the daughter of wealthy steel magnate Charles Burgayne, and they become best friends. When Libby is brought to Charles's attention, he comes to admire her competence, while his sons Edward and Hugh admire her entrancing good looks and likeable personality. Despite her lowly family background, both brothers vie for her attention, but using vastly different methods. Edward Burgayne, a keen flier, is drafted into the Royal Air Force as a fighter pilot while Hugh remains in a reserved occupation. Libby grows to love one brother and despise the other, with disastrous consequences for her and the entire Burgayne family. The story features an internment camp in the Curragh in Ireland, which was used to house British and German airmen and sailors who had found themselves in that country; Ireland was neutral during World War Two. The camp had a parole system whereby the inmates could go to the local races, play golf, attend dances, socialise with the people, and were encouraged to have girl friends. The parole system meant that they must return to the camp. But once inside the camp they were expected to attempt escape!

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