Written with lightness and humor, this delightful story begins with a lazy Saturday morning. As Mrs. Candy goes about her business, she winds up speaking with her deceased husband, a social worker from the French Quarter, and two very large police officers. She also learns many new things about the unusual tenants of her New Orleans boarding house. By the time Sunday morning arrives, every person in the building has had his life changed in one way or another. New Orleans, 1940s-Mrs. Candy's boarding house on Cairo Street is full of characters. The events of a not-so-typical Saturday develop into a party the widow throws for her renters.

As Mrs. Candy says "it takes all kinds of people." That's just what her small group of boarders is, from the drunken middle-aged politician and the uptight secretary to the young lovers and a kind-hearted man homesick for Bogalusa. Mrs. Candy herself is the kind of person who has never found life difficult or in the least complicated. She has a knack for getting people to wait on her and likes to play dumb. When shrimp jambalaya, some new acquaintances, and a lot of liquor are added to the mix, many unexpected things begin to happen.