Lilies

To avoid pawning the family pianola for a street party honoring war vets, Ruby takes a job selling corsets, while also training for Olympic swimming tryouts. Billy finds that not all returning soldiers are welcomed as heroes.

When Iris falls head over heels for a young magician, the rest of the family must face the unpromising prospect of running the household without her competence and self-sacrifice at the center.

At tea with her employer, May meets a charming photographer with obvious designs on the trusting girl. Meanwhile, Billy finds a stray stallion in the woods, which Dadda schemes to keep for the upcoming Orange Parade.

When scarlet fever invades the district, Mosses scramble to provide for seven orphaned children and stay one step ahead of the dreaded housing inspector, as May becomes more occupied with Mr. Brazendale's attentions.

Billy's best friend from the war returns to Liverpool, and a long-suppressed emotions threaten to engulf them both. May gets unexpected news and discovers that things aren't what they've seemed in the Brazendale household.

As May makes every effort to conceal her condition, Ruby takes up with a group of friends who introduce her to liberating modern ideas: feminism and vegetarianism, while May seeks an escape from her predicament.

When Billy inadvertently brings home a snake, a local teacher invites Dadda to discuss the reptile in her class. The relationship soon turns romantic—to the horror of his daughters. Then Dadda learns of May's condition.

After a life-threatening delivery, May rejects her baby. The turmoil created by Dadda's flight, the neighbors' scorn, and Iris's pursuit of a vocation reaches a climax in a confrontation at the Brazendale estate.