Still mourning the death of her husband nine months ago Lucia decides to get away from the village where she lives for a while and rent a place in another part of England. She takes her best friend, Georgie, along with her and they both fall in love with the place. They decide that they will both rent places there for the summer and return to home to participate in the village fete before moving out.

Lucia and Georgie move to their rented homes in Tilling and it is not long before Lucia and Miss Mapp are competing against each other in games of oneupmanship.

Lucia holds her garden party, in Mapp's garden, and it is a success. Her happiness is soon brought back to earth when Mapp gleefully tells her that the Contessa Faraglione is coming to visit Tilling and that the two of them will be able to talk Italian to each other. When he hears this news Georgie starts to panic, after all if she speaks Italian to him, or Lucia, it will soon become apparent that, despite what they have told everyone, he cannot speak Italian and that Lucia knows very little more.

Lucia decides that life in Tilling is more exciting then her home village and finds a small place to buy. Georgie is upset by this and has to decide whether he wants to do the same. A party at Lucia's new home leads to Mapp trying anything she can to get hold of Lucia's recipe for Lobster. This leads to the two of them finding themselves stuck in the house during a raging flood.

After months lost at sea, Mapp and Lucia return to Tilling, much to the surprise of all the residents who had thought that they had died. They both plan evenings where they will tell their memoirs of their adventure, versions that differ quite dramatically from each other.