When Roma Powell's father remarried and moved to England with his new wife and baby daUghter, she stayed in Wales with her Auntie Tilly. Now it is 1980, Roma is twenty-four, and the tables have turned: Auntie Tilly is elderly and infirm and Roma feels trapped by her sense of duty, which forces her to continue caring for the old lady.

Then Auntie Tilly dies and, after recovering from the shock of learning that her aunt has bequeathed everything to an animal charity, Roma has to decide what to do with her life. Her father's friend, Mal Parry, is eager to offer her a job -- and his heart -- but she shies away from the idea of passion. Her saviour comes in the form of genial Uncle Micky, who invites her to live and work in his pub, the Magpie, where she meets Frank 'Fletch' Morgan, a charmingly unreliable musician. But both Micky and Mal are hiding the truth about Roma's family and her past and, with every day that she spends in the pub, she comes closer to uncovering long-forgotten memories . . .