Nell was convinced that a girl should have a good time at 17, should have met her true love at 18, be engaged at 19, and marry at 21. While her mother regards the Locarno Dancehall as a den of iniquity, for 17-year-old shop-girl Nell McClusky, it's the centre of the universe. Where else is she going to meet the man of her dreams who'll take her away from the hum-drum realities of life on a council estate in 1950s Edinburgh? At first Alistair Rutherford doesn't look that promising. He dresses more like a student than Nell's idol, Buddy Holly. But Alistair comes from a wealthy family and is studying to be a lawyer, two things that mean that Nell soon has plans to leave her dance hall days far behind her. But the reality of marriage is far different to Nell's romantic notions ...