This is a true story of a Newcastle publican and an Irish Girl in 1880s Newcastle-who built one of the most famous pubs in Newcastle by the River Tyne. A rags-to-riches (or at least a better life) for Martha, the female protagonist, who hooks up with the man who can sell anything, John Sutherland-it is their growing-up love story.
The Barley Mow was the creation of this Sutherland Family, but for JB and girl Martha Lowery, it proved a blessing and a curse. The brothers John Betjeman (JB) and Daniel start building a brewery to sell their beers-far and wide. JB meets Martha, who is a cook and cleaner at a country pub in Hexham. Their meetings lead to a child born out of wedlock-John Thomas Sutherland.
Their aged father runs the pub, and Alice Curry, his wife, wanted him to retire rather than die on the job. But the older Sutherlands are not convinced the younger couple have enough experience-or the staying power-to take over the business. Also Martha, to them, seems to have more secrets than the pies she bakes, and JB cannot make up his mind about marrying her. Her secrets raise their head when she finds out Daniel, JB's brother, is married to a Lowery relative, who knows all about her father's behaviour and his miserly ways, who expects his eldest daughter to serve his sexual urges when his wife pretends to be ill.
Martha must leave the family smallholding to protect herself and leaves her siblings to fend for themselves against their evil father. She finds work as a baker and a cook-cleaner in the small town of Hexham, where she has a chance meeting with John Benjamin.
The sub-plot involves a healer, Elizabeth, who has her own secrets, where we learn she had escaped from Barbados after murdering her husband who was abusing her. The older woman and Martha make a friendship based on their tragic pasts; however, Elizabeth teaches Martha to read and how to guide JB into marrying her after the birth of Martha's first son, born out of wedlock.
Due to the illness of John Sutherland senior, the couple are able to eventually take over the pub. Due to the large number of children they create, they need to work all hours to build the pub and brewery profits. As the children grow up, they are put to work in the expanding pub. Martha, after the birth of seven children, becomes weaker and passes away with the birth of the last one, leaving JB devastated, and Elizabeth, her friend, still on the run from local magistrates.
