When Frank Woods at number seventy-nine Primrose Square comes home to a surprise birthday party thrown by his wife and adoring children, it is his guests who get the real surprise.

Finding himself alone, he befriends the cantankerous Miss Hardcastle, who hasn't left her home for decades, and Emily Dunne - fresh out of rehab and desperate to make amends.

As gossip spreads through Primrose Square, every relationship is tested, and nothing in this close-knit community will ever be the same again . . .