Recently widowed 'Lucia' Lucas is bored with her life in the Cotswold village of Riseholme and considers a move to the seaside town of Tilling with her fey male friend Georgie. On arrival in Tilling they meet Elizabeth Mapp,the Queen Bee of Tilling society and assorted other townsfolk,including the masculine artist 'Quaint' Irene,Godiva,alias Diva,who becomes a friend to Lucia,a Vicar from Birmingham who nonetheless speaks with a Scots accent and Benjy, the Major.