Beatrice, a single woman in early middle age, has just inherited a house from her late parents, having given up the best years of her own life to ensure their longevity. Moving in with her are Annie, an ever-youthful fortysomething on the road to divorce, who has been forced out of the flat she shared with her daughter and her boyfriend, plus Rachael, a self-deluding romantic in her thirties, who works as a keep-fit trainer at a women's psychiatric hospital.

Very soon, however, it becomes clear that the three women have something very important in common, and his name is Ralph. Ralph used to be Rachael's boyfriend but, it seems, had affairs with both Beatrice and Annie. Although he is seldom seen, the deceitful Ralph continues to dominate all their lives, and a glimpse of him in the street is enough to raise emotions to fever pitch in the house. At such times, it is usually Beatrice, a level-headed philosophy graduate with a dry wit, who ends up peace-making, though in their heads at least these three women will always be screaming.