The story revolves around the lives of two women, both widows in their 80s: Hortensia James, an international fashion designer who is the only black homeowner in the suburb, and Marion Agostino, a white Jewish woman who is an architect.

After an accident renders them immobile, they discuss their pasts, their regrets, and their shared experiences, leading to a deeper understanding of each other's lives and struggles.

[3]: 1 [4] Hortensia and Marion's conflicts over the course of the novel, according to Danette Frederique, serve to reveal "the skeletons in South Africa's post-Apartheid closet, including land rights, reconciliation and white guilt".

[7] Publishers Weekly referred to it as "this charming, touching, occasionally radiant tale of two prickly octogenarians: two women, one black and one white, neighbours who discover after 20 years of exchanging digs and insults that they might help each other... Omotoso captures the changing racial relations since the 1950s, as well as the immigrant experience through personal detail and small psychological insights into mixed emotions, the artist's eye, and the widow's remorse.

"[9] Kirkus Reviews called the book "[a] pleasing tale of reconciliation laced with acid humor and a cheery avoidance of sentimentality.

"[3]: 3 In The Harvard Crimson, it received a 3.5 star rating, citing that it "reads more like a beach book than a serious piece of literature, the novel's discussion of difficult topics such as racism, apartheid, grief, and the past add a depth that a lesser novel would lack",[4] while Freya Neason of Palatinate gave a less positive review, citing as shortcomings the storyline, writing style and the characters' "constant grumbles and criticisms quickly [becoming] cumbersome".