Swans Sing Before They Die

Born in a deprived area of London during the 1920s, Jessica Brown has received very little education. Despite this drawback, during her teenage years, she is picked out by her employer as a talented seamstress. But sewing glamorous garments for other women does not satisfy Jessie. Blessed with a beautiful signing voice, at the outbreak of WWII she leaves her Islington home and, taking advantage of her talent, joins ENSA to travel abroad entertaining the troops. It seems she is on her way to a better life.

However, back in Britain after the War, out-of-work singers are two a penny and Jessie finds it difficult to make her way in show business. It seems her luck has run out. Her route to stardom is further hampered by a terrible secret, a secret which up to now she has been able to smother. But an encounter with an unscrupulous impresario reawakens unpleasant memories, corroding her relationships and undermining her confidence. To achieve success and find happiness, Jessie must face up to her mentor's manipulating influence and learn to overcome her demons. But will she have the strength to do that?

Follow Jessie's journey from London to Yorkshire to the Middle East and Italy and back again, witnessing with her the gentrification of the Islington of her childhood.