It's 1948 and Hanora Sparrow and her teenage daughters have fallen upon tough times. With little more than the suitcases they carry, they must move to a housing commission camp on the outskirts of Sydney. While their new life in a ramshackle tin shed seems grim, the women soon learn that they are not alone. As they befriend other camp residents such as Mr Gardiner, the war hero who never recovered, and the women of the laundry circle, who are the eyes and ears of the camp, the Sparrows discover that good humour might just be their salvation.