While her mother regards the Locarno dancehall as a den of iniquity, for 17-year-old shop-girl, Nell McClusky, it’s the centre of the universe. Where else is she going to meet the man of her dreams who’ll take her away from the humdrum realities of life on a council estate in 1950s Edinburgh? At first Alistair Rutherford doesn’t look that promising. He dresses more like a student than Nell’s idol, Buddy Holly.

Obsessively neat Lily, a writer who writes about writers, is asked to interview the enigmatic Rita Boothe, journalist, photographer, self-styled culinary expert, and wit. Sitting in Rita's living room, leafing through a book of photographs from the early '70s, Lily comes across a picture of an incandescently sexy young woman sitting in the back of a limousine, swigging Jack Daniels. It is her mother, Mattie. Lily isn't shocked. She's envious.

Charlie Gavin was abducted as a baby. He didn't know who he was or where he came from. His mission was to find himself. And when he did, he decided to spend his life finding other lost souls by opening the Be Kindly Missing Persons Bureau. Martha Walters, his assistant, has had her 15 minutes of almost fame and failed. Now, dealing with her guilt and pain, she lives with her mum and dotes on her young daughter. Charlie appears to be a dreamer, but hey, his office is near her house, she can lie in of a morning and take her kid to school and the work isn't too heartbreaking. Or is it?

Elvira Carr is 27 and neuro-atypical. Her father - whom she suspects was in the secret service - has passed away and, after several Unfortunate Incidents growing up, she now spends most of her time at home with her overbearing mother. But when her mother has a stroke, Elvira is suddenly forced to look after herself or risk ending up in sheltered accommodation. Armed with her Seven Rules, which she puts together after online research, Elvira hopes to learn how to navigate a world that's full of people she doesn't understand.

Lainey has just lost everything. Luckily one little fib (OK, quite a big fib) helps nail her dream job. Soon she's living in a stunning house by the sea, fending off obsessed fans for a retired - if far-from-retiring - actor and organising his charming but chaotic family. Yes, everyone thinks she's part of a couple, and it's tricky keeping this secret. But at least she's not looking for love: with her disastrous relationship history, men are definitely off the agenda. 

Veronica McCreedy lives in a mansion by the sea. She loves a nice cup of Darjeeling tea whilst watching a good wildlife documentary. And she’s never seen without her ruby-red lipstick. Although these days, Veronica is rarely seen by anyone, because at 85, her days are spent mostly at home, alone. She can be found either collecting litter from the beach, trying to locate her glasses, or shouting instructions to her assistant, Eileen. But today...today, Veronica is going to make a decision that will change all of this.

In North Devon, where the rivers Taw and Torridge converge and run into the sea, Detective Matthew Venn stands outside the church as his father's funeral takes place. The day Matthew turned his back on the strict evangelical community in which he grew up, he lost his family, too. Now he's back, not just to mourn his father at a distance, but to take charge of his first major case in the Two Rivers region; a complex place not quite as idyllic as tourists suppose.

The town of Little Woodford seems peaceful and picture-postcard beautiful, with its marketplace, ancient church and immaculate allotments. But behind the tranquil facade, troubles are brewing. Olivia Lewthwaite, former town councillor, pillar of the WI and all-round busybody, has been forced by her husband's gambling debts to sell their house - her pride and joy. She hates the new estate they've moved to and knows she needs to humble herself to apply for a job. 

Life in Dublin hasn't worked out quite as planned for friends Melissa, Steph and Eilis. Melissa has a successful career, but she's a mess of insecurities. Steph is lonely, walking on eggshells around her philandering husband and angry teenage daughter. And Eilis, an A&E doctor, is just going through the motions with her long-term partner, Rob. Is it ever too late to take charge and live your life on your terms?

On her 47th birthday, Sydney Smith stands on a rooftop and prepares to jump.... Sydney is a cartoonist and freerunner. Feet constantly twitching, always teetering on the edge of life, she's never come to terms with the event that ripped her family apart when she was 10 years old. And so, on a birthday that she doesn't want to celebrate, she returns alone to St Ives to face up to her guilt and grief. It's a trip that turns out to be life-changing - and not only for herself.

Jack had two dying wishes: that his wife scatter his ashes somewhere "exotic", and that she not give up on life once he was gone. He intended to spur her on to new adventures, but despite clinging to her red suitcase, Geraldine Verne hasn’t left the house for three months. It takes an accident for Geri to accept help from her friends, but when Meals on Wheels arrive she is mortified. Yet heartbroken volunteer Lottie brings with her more than cottage pie and custard. Like Geri, she too is struggling to cut loose.

A form-bending and endlessly inventive collection of short stories from the Man Booker Prize-shortlisted and Baileys Prize-winning author of How to Be Both and the critically acclaimed Seasonal quartet. A middle-aged woman conducts a poignant conversation with her gauche 14-year-old self. An innocent supermarket shopper finds in her trolley a foul-mouthed, insulting and beautiful child. Challenging the boundaries between fiction and reality, we see a narrator, 'Ali', as she drinks tea, phones a friend and muses on the relationship between the short story and a nymph.

Nick is cracking up. In his mid-40s, he has just been sacked as an arts journalist, with little prospect of getting such a well-paid, prestigious job again. Even more worrying for him is his suspicion that his wife, a Deputy Head at a school, is having an affair with a much more successful person: Does she want to trade in Nick for a better model? His marriage problems are now exacerbated by money worries and concerns about the future for his nine-year old son, Jack. But most devastating of all is the fact that he learns that a former lover, Ellida, has died.

Addie and her sister are about to embark on an epic road trip to a friend's wedding in rural Scotland. The playlist is all planned, and the snacks are packed. But, not long after setting off, a car slams into the back of theirs. The driver is none other than Addie's ex, Dylan, who she's avoided since their traumatic break-up two years earlier. Dylan and his best mate are heading to the wedding, too, and they've totalled their car, so Addie has no choice but to offer them a ride. 

Angie Smith lives in Greenway, Chelmsford, with her elder sister, Doreen, their struggling mother and their drunk, violent father. Bored of her job and of her dull, ordinary boyfriend, Angie dreams of bigger and better things. But then she meets boutique owner Gene Battini. He is older, handsome, charming - and married. She is completely swept off her feet. But little does she know that Doreen is falling for Gene, too, and that their affair will have disastrous consequences.