The letter is addressed to me. No stamp, swirly handwriting in black ink. I pull out a piece of paper, stiffening when I read the message. Hands trembling, the note slides to the floor: Your husband is having an affair.

Six words written in neat block letters. Six words slipped through her letterbox, destroying her marriage, exposing Ella’s perfect life as perfect lies.

But Ella has a plan: Alice is the answer to her problems. A lodger, to help keep her afloat, a friend, to keep the loneliness at bay.

Only Alice has her own reasons for wanting to live at 46 Heath Street …