In a lonely seaside town, a few misfits cling to one another for survival

Nine months ago, Mrs. Gandell left Yorkshire behind. She invested what little money she had in a ramshackle inn off the coast of Wales, in a forgotten resort town called Garthmeilo. At the time, it was summer, light and warm. Now it is February, and the Welsh gloom has ground Mrs. Gandell's spirit to dust. Her only companion is Jones, a bitter handyman who delights in torturing his employer. Nothing sustains them but gin and cigarettes—and the gin is running out.

The winter has been brutal, with only one lodger to keep the Decent Hotel afloat: an enigmatic dreamer named Miss Vaughan. When the local vicar takes an interest in her, it throws their lives into chaos. Mrs. Gandell wants nothing more than to sell the inn and return to Yorkshire, but February is endless, and Garthmeilo may prove to be inescapable.