Distraught that her academic career has stalled, Alba is walking through her neighbourhood when she finds herself in front of 11 Hope Street. A woman named Peggy invites her to stay, on the house's usual conditions: she has 99 nights to turn her life around. With nothing left to lose, Alba moves in.

But this is no ordinary house.... Past residents have included George Eliot and Beatrix Potter, who have hung around to help newcomers - literally, in talking portraits on the wall! Alba begins a journey that will heal her wounds - and maybe even save her life.