A romance novelist, Edith Hope (who writes under the name Vanessa Wilde), goes to stay at a Swiss Hotel on a lakeside to get away from an ill-fated romance with David, a married auctioneer, after having jilted another man on the steps of the wedding venue to the disgust of her friends.
At the hotel she writes letters to her ex-lover, David, which tell the story of their relationship - but they are never sent.
Also staying at the hotel are the gauche, flamboyantly wealthy, but vulgar Iris Pusey and her middle aged daughter, Jennifer, who seduces the hotel staff and fellow guest Mr. Neville.
Edith is befriended by Monica, the wife of a British diplomat with the EEC, who is there for health reasons.
Spurning Jennifer's attentions, Mr. Neville woos Edith and proposes marriage. Edith turns him down when she realises he is still sleeping with Jennifer. She writes one last time to David to tell him she is returning to London - the only one of her letters she posts.
One review pointed out that while there were some significant differences from the original book, the adaptation "does, finally, capture the spirit of the novel."[5]
Home media
The film was released on VHS in 1988 and on DVD in 2003.