Bella Cathcart, forty-something, single, lives alone on a sprawling property at the end of a dirt road in rural Nova Scotia. Far from being lonely, Bella values her solitude and independence. She lives hand-to-mouth, occasionally supplementing her meagre income with the sale of a painting through a small gallery.

In early summer, Bella's solitary life is interrupted by a succession of unexpected visitors, some less welcome than others. All contrive to disrupt Bella's routine, yet she finds a sometimes tense understanding with each of them, and in the process discovers more about herself than she would have imagined. All the while Bella's mother, the visitor Bella might most welcome, remains resolutely at home in Scotland, vowing never again to visit her daughter.

Bella's summer of creativity is threatened, but it's far more than an inconvenience, there's an autumn show waiting for her work, and the possibility of selling another painting or two. Contrary to her fears, her guests become the catalysts for new work as well as providing solutions to old problems. The guests benefit too, although sometimes that mutual benefit verges on mutual exploitation.