The girl from Wish Lane is Eva Masson, brought up in poverty in 1920s Dundee, who longs to escape to something better than the jute-mills in Scotland where her mother and sister are spinners. Clever as well as pretty, Eva is selected to stay on at school after the age of 14 and trains as a teacher. When she falls in love with Nicholas North, privileged son of the jute-mill owner, she embarks on a life very different from that of her family.But Eva is principled and compassionate, and things are not easy for her in a world that is at odd with what she believes in. She must face prejudice, disillusion and hardship before she and the man she loves are finally free to admit their mistakes and make a fresh start.