HANNAH MASSEY: Proud and canny, ignorant and intensely ambitious, Hannah Massey is a born ruler. Her kingdom may be only a working class household in County Durham, but within its walls her iron will governs a predominantly male family and her word is unchallengeable law. The apple of Hannah’s eye is her pretty younger daughter, Rosie,who has just returned home after a spell in London. Her return is shrouded in mystery and evasions, and when the truth does come out, Hannah’s world is torn apart.THE FIFTEEN STREETS: Life in the Fifteen Streets was tough — a continual struggle for survival. Some families gave up and descended into a dismal state of grinding poverty. Others, like the O’Briens — and especially John O’Brien — fought grimly for a world they were only rarely allowed to glimpse. When John O’Brien fell in love with Mary Llewellyn,he knew there was a gulf between them that nothing could bridge — it was the gulf of the Fifteen Streets.