As a boy growing up during the Depression, Cliff Nichols watched alcohol rob his mother of her hope, her beauty and her life. And he vowed he'd never touch a drop. Until one fateful night when, at the age of nineteen, he says to a mate, 'One beer can't hurt, can it?' By his thirties Cliff is a hopeless alcoholic, homeless, shattered and walking Sydney's skid row. His life is in ruins - but with him is his little five-year-old daughter Helen. When everyone else deserts him, she will not leave his side. The unwavering love of Helen and the support of his father sustain Cliff throughout his long battle with alcohol. Finally, after many heartbreaking false starts, he finds the courage to break the cycle.
