In the mid-sixties, Lily, an unusually evocative Bed and Breakfast, re-imagined as the town’s first and only Italian-styled guesthouse, set in the hilly landscapes of West Yorkshire, opens to its first five guests as Anna Gallo, the establishment’s unlikely, but proud owner opens her doors. Told with a great sense of wit, eloquence and eccentricity, childhood memories, dreams and the fortunes of the first five guests who stay at Lily’s are eventually cast as the story meanders and unfolds with surprising twists and hidden secrets, as the story finally closes. We meet Big and Little Stan, coffee manufacturer and gifted twelve-year old son; Chance, an aristocrat; Marybeth, a solitary figure with a love of poisonous mushrooms and owner of five idiosyncratic dogs, and Teresa, the first guest, who never leaves.

Childhood memories and family ties delve into the intricate lives of diverse characters combining to ignite the story with the possibility of long-lasting friendships. This forms the heart and soul of the book.