After a farming accident plunges him into a coma for months, Frankie Hermans wakes up to discover that he's paralysed and mute. Confined to a wheelchair, Frankie struggles to adjust to a life in which he must rely on others to complete even the simplest tasks for him.

In September 1871, a train leaves Manchester bound for London. On board is Lizzie Burns, a poor worker from the Irish slums, who is embarking on the journey that will change her forever. Sitting in the first-class carriage beside her lover, the wealthy mill-owner Frederick Engels, the vision of a life of peace and...