Galvanised by a health scare, Felix Walton's chances of remaking himself by ending his forty-two-year marriage may be slight, but they are otherwise zero, so he ups and runs from London to Norwich in search of a new start. His family's distress has him doubting his decision, and he must unravel the sad truth of his marriage if he is not to give in to remorse and go home. In a chaotic household of waifs and strays run by a warm, erudite earth mother, his fellow lodgers open his eyes to lives unlike his own, help him to make peace with his conscience and find meaning and joy, but the price is unforeseen danger.