When Sal's husband dies suddenly of a heart attack, Sal and her best friend, Tip try to find some fun among the knitting and cake-baking of The Ladies' Guild in the small West Country town of Clatterford St. Mary. The Guild members are certainly an eccentric bunch: leader Eileen, who takes her position--and chains--very seriously; cheese-mad Rose (or Margaret, depending on whether she's taken her medication); Delilah Stagg of the loose false teeth and orange tights; rock star mother Caroline who, when not horse riding or dining at Madonna's, is always on the lookout for somebody to do the school run; Queenie, a crossing guard in search of some traffic; and Kate, the local grievance group visitor, still wallowing in widowhood.