Otterbrook, 1916

After centuries of peace, a small Lancashire farming village sends its sons off to serve in the Great War. The country is convulsed in a patriotic fervor, and all are excited to go — though each for his own reasons — and their mothers, wives and sweethearts are happy to hand them over. But the war is only two years old, and its nature is misunderstood. It soon becomes clear that its end is nowhere in sight, and its appetite for men insatiable. All this is viewed through the eyes of a village girl considered simple-minded, whose interest is in one particular boy. She is not sure where he has gone, but she waits patiently for his return.