For the families waiting back home, time is just another casualty of war.
After a year and a half of war, Americans are tired but optimistic. The Allies have been bombing German cities day and night, and in the East, the Japanese are in full retreat. But thousands of young men have been killed, and ten million more are serving overseas. On the home front, the shortages continue, and rationing has only gotten worse.
In East Boston, life for the Nolan family goes on despite the hardships. Abby has finally chosen a career path, but with her boyfriend in the Army, she has no one to celebrate with. After a rash of antisemitic incidents, her brother Thomas starts having second thoughts about being a police officer. Then the U.S. invades Sicily and sends all their Italian neighbors into a panic.
With the arrival of summer, the Nolans return to their cottage on Point Shirley. And while they try to make the best of it, everyone is anxious. No one doubts their country will win the war, but they know many more will die before it ends. All anybody can do now is wait.