In late 19th century Liverpool, the hills of Everton look down on the River Mersey and the thriving port that brings so much wealth to the city. But the confusion of black roofed tenements, courts and slums that stretch as far as the eye can see reveal that amongst the gilded prosperity there lies a neglect of any pursuit beyond the merest means of existence.
Eight-year-old Jobe, born on the sloping hills is oblivious to the struggle of life in the slums where, Kitty, his Catholic mother was born or the opulence of the rolling pastures of the Wirral where his Protestant father, Albert, grew up. His parents, ostracised from their respective families because of their sectarian splitting love, live only for each other and their son. It is not until an unforeseen circumstance imposes the disease of desperation and deprivation onto their lives that they become aware of the poverty, industrial unrest and sectarian storms that are blowing through the city.