1939
Ruth Davies and Paul Jenkins have known each other since their schooldays. They live in the Potteries and despite the approach of the second World War, they plan to marry. However, just a few months later, Paul received his call up papers and he was sent away, firstly to England and then on to France.
Ruth decides to concentrate on her career as a secretary to help keep herself distracted. One evening, she is persuaded into going out for dinner with her boss, Mr Steele, on the promise of discussing her future. But on their way home, Mr Steele drags her into the nearby woodland and rapes her. Horrified and shocked, Ruth is desperate to forget about the terrible ordeal all together. But upon discovering that she’s pregnant, she realises that there’s no keeping it secret any more.
With a baby on the way, no job and no one else to turn to, Ruth returns home. Seeing no other option, Ruth’s mother suggests that she marries Charlie, a close friend of her father’s. He’d always wanted a child of his own and was prepared to marry her regardless of her current situation. When news arrives that Paul is missing, Ruth is devastated and finds herself agreeing to marry Charlie, on her mother’s insistence.
Yet tragedy strikes once again when Ruth loses the baby and must somehow try and make the most of her new life as a married woman, and the expectations that come with it. The war rolls on and the welcome news that Paul is alive gives Ruth a new will to live again.
But so much has passed since they last saw each other. Is there any hope left?
Set during the war-torn age of World War Two, Soul Searching is a deeply moving tale of true love, forgiveness and never giving up.