She didn't mean to tell the story, or have it end that way. She just got a little . . . carried away.

It has been several years since she confided in her teacher, and Molly Drayton is still feeling the aftershocks. But when a chance meeting with a stranger leads to an offer of a room in exchange for telling stories, Molly jumps at the chance. Slowly, she builds an eccentric new family: Tim, her secretive boyfriend, who just might be a spy; Miranda, the lovelorn hairstylist; Liz, the lusty librarian; and Mr. Roberts, a landlord who listens, and his wife who is that very wonderful thing, French.

Much to Molly's surprise, she finds that the stories she now tells are her key to creating a completely different life. Suddenly, her future is full of possibilities. The trouble is, Molly's not the only one telling tales.

Sarah Salway's witty, finely tuned, and poignant novel is an utterly entrancing chronicle of a unique coming-of-age, capturing the imagination as it explores what we reveal to others, how honest we are with ourselves, and the consequences of trying to bridge fact and fiction.