In the workhouse, little orphan Holly Green dreamed of a Christmas filled with roast beef and plum pudding. But Holly's beautiful Christmas dream was soon to contort into a cruel nightmare.

One snowy Christmas Eve, two vulnerable little girls run away from the harsh workhouse, into the unknown and unforgiving world that was Victorian London. Holly knows nothing but the workhouse while Maggie had only been a resident since her mother died three years before.

Holly is quiet and careful. Maggie is brave and outspoken and daring.

A young street boy called Gabriel introduces them to the charitable Fanny who welcomes them to her brood of unwanted children. Fanny's street children always ate well at Christmas, but Holly soon wondered where it all came from.

There was a mystery behind Fanny's business that seemed to attract tragedy and pain. The girls were soon to suffer because of it.

How will Holly cope with life outside the workhouse? Would she take Fanny's grim warnings to heart? Would Christmas finally prove to be all she dreamed of? This tale of hardship and perseverance, in which kindness and charity prove mightier than crime and cruelty, shows the true spirit of Christmas. .