1980s Derry: Goretti Friel, one of a spirited group of teenage friends, meets Ciarán at her Irish language class, and romance blossoms. When he is arrested and imprisoned by the British army, Goretti is dismayed to find herself pregnant. Left to deal with the crisis alone, she is tormented by the conflicts of her growing belly and the influence of a Catholic upbringing.

Two couples, one Catholic, one Protestant, exist on two sides of the chasm that is everyday life in Northern Ireland.

When some Belfast children find out that city planners intend to "develop" a wooded area called the Glen that the girls use as a retreat from the pressures of city life, they decide to fight back - but in their own way.