In autumn 1943—in the build-up to D-Day as South England is flooded with American soldiers—Miss Roach, a publisher’s reader bombed out of her London flat, is relieved to find lodgings outside town and start a friendship with Vicki, a vivacious German woman. But at the boarding house her life is made hell by Mr Thwaites, a preposterous bully. The arrival of happy-go-lucky American officer Lt Dayton Pike offers escape, but Vicki likes him too. An intense psychological battle begins, leading to a violent incident and a death. Guilt and a fiancé she can’t trust push Miss Roach to the limit. But a mysterious man, an eccentric boss and an otherworldly elegant hotel lead to a resolution.