In the spring of 1949, Jack Agass belatedly returns from the war to the working class street in Islington where he grew up. A proud, supportive community with a pub and a barber shop, and a common love of The Arsenal. But the street has changed. Jack eventually finds his footing but he's haunted by a yearning for his old childhood friend, Rosie Hogarth, and for the pre-war security and certainties she represents. Rosie has moved out and up - living bohemian-style in Bloomsbury. He thinks she's selling sex - it turns out her motive is political.