Successful publisher Will Atenton (Craig) quit a job in New York City to relocate his wife, Libby (Weisz), and two girls to a quaint New England town. But as they settle into their new life, they discover their perfect home was the murder scene of a mother and her children. And the entire city believes it was at the hands of the husband who survived.

When Will investigates the tragedy, his only lead comes from Ann Paterson (Watts), a neighbor who was close to the family that died. As Will and Ann piece together the disturbing puzzle, they discover that the story of the last man to leave Will’s dream house will be just as horrifying to the one who came next.

After meeting one lonely Friday night at a bar, Russell (Tom Cullen) and Glen (Chris New) find themselves caught up in an lost weekend full of sex, drugs, and intimate conversation. Although they have conflicting ideas of what it is they want from life and certainly how to get it, they form a startling emotional connection that will resonate throughout their lives.

Nigel’s Mother was always a poor cook, and her addiction to all things canned isn’t helping. Nigel, on the other hand, laps up cookbooks as if they were porn, and spends all his free time gazing longingly at the delights offered at Percy Salt’s grocery shop. Nigel’s Dad worries there is something “wrong” with his son and the two find it difficult to connect, so Nigel finds friendship and a father figure in Josh, the gardener. As his mother’s illness worsens, so do Nigel’s relations with his father — the Bolognese he cooks is far too exotic, the uncooked Fray Bentos pie MUST be finished, and his father’s rage as Nigel insists on picking every last bit of jelly off the canned ham at the annual picnic hits an all time high. Dad then fires Josh for reasons unknown to Nigel.

Just before Christmas Nigel’s mother dies, leaving Nigel and his father heartbroken. Their touching efforts to look after each other, often through gestures with food, sadly seem to miss the target. His father begins to spend his evenings at the Masonic lodge until a new cleaner, Mrs Potter, arrives on the scene.

Mrs Potter’s curves, charms and lemon meringue pies quickly bewitch Nigel’s father and much to Nigel’s horror, the three soon embark on a move to the country. The one silver lining in the cloud of a new school is Domestic Science class, where Nigel can finally shine. Cooking soon becomes the key weapon in the battle for Dad’s affections. Ironically, the main casualty of these culinary skirmishes between Nigel and Mrs. Potter is Nigel’s father, as his waistline grows and grows. Hoping to escape the madness, Nigel lands a job in the kitchen of his local pub. It is here that Nigel’s eyes are opened to a world of culinary opportunity.

When his father dies, Nigel’s mind is set as he escapes the confines of the countryside and packs a bag for London, arriving at the door of The Savoy Hotel.