Life has not always been easy for John

McKie. Born to a poor Scottish family

but consumed with ambition and dreams

of wealth, John left his remote village and

settled in Darlington, where he and his

wife Mary brought his ambition to life in

the form of The Emporium, a small

family department store.

Now, in 1912, the McKies finally seem

poised to achieve prosperity and security.

The Emporium, created by so much hon-

est hard work, is now the pride of Dar-

lington, and John and Mary s son Luke is

fulfilling the dreams of three generations

of McKies with his achievements as a

university man studying medicine.

But new challenges face the McKies:

John s niece Jane, an aspiring dancer,

struggles to assert her independence

against her strong-willed mother Char-