Toby Dobbs has never been blessed with good fortune. Deserted first by his father and then by his wife, he decides to open his front door to other misfits who have yet to find their place in the sun. The only trouble is - as the years pass - none of them ever quite engages with reality.

Until Leah enters their world. For three years she's lived across the road from Toby's house and when tragedy strikes, she finally has reason to meet the people she's observed from afar: Ruby, who refuses to grow old gracefully; Con, the diffident teenager; Melinda, his flighty mother; and Joanne, the recluse.

And Leah has her own problems - a boyfriend who won't commit and dreams she doubts she'll ever realize. But when she and Toby meet, everyone gets a lesson in living and no one is left unchanged ...