For thirty years, Sonja was the manager of a hotel by Lake Constance; her husband Bruno even earned a star as a chef. But then Bruno dies. His brother Arno is willing to take on everything, including a mountain of debt—on the condition that she disappears. So she travels to Wales to Mr. Pettibone, despite his warnings. About the rundown guesthouse, the food, his uncle, and this sad country in general: drafty windows, drafty doors, desolation all around. But the sea is magnificent! And isn't Wales in the rain still better than a gourmet hotel right by Lake Constance? In Karl-Heinz Ott's brilliant, wicked novel, even misfortune unfolds its ironic, biting charm.