'Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont is, for me, her masterpiece' GUARDIAN, 'The Best 100 Novels''An author of great subtlety, great compassion and great depth' SARAH WATERS'Jane Austen, Elizabeth Taylor, Elizabath Bowen - soul-sisters all' ANNE TYLEROn a rainy Sunday in January, the recently widowed Mrs Palfrey arrives at the Claremont Hotel where she will spend her remaining days.Her fellow residents are magnificently eccentric and endlessly curious, living off crumbs of affection and snippets of gossip.Together, upper lips stiffened, they fight off their twin enemies: boredom and the Grim Reaper. Then one day Mrs Palfrey strikes up an unlikely friendship with an impoverished young writer, Ludo, who sees her as inspiration for his novel.