Charlotte is approaching her 40th birthday, and not finding life particularly easy. Her divorce from Martin has just been finalised, but she finds it difficult to see him with his new partner. And their 13-year-old son Sam is having a tough time at school, no doubt related to the breakup of his parents' marriage.

Charlotte would really like to make a new start so she puts her house on the market, and finds the house of her dreams... she also meets the estate agent Tim who seems to think that Charlotte may be the woman of his dreams. Her rather lost demeanor also attracts the attentions of her best friend's husband. Then her mother - whom she has always found difficult - has an accident...

While the plot revolves around Charlotte and her gradual acceptance of her circumstances, there are a lot of subplots in this book, and such a big cast of people that I often found myself forgetting who was whom. It's quite a long novel (nearly 400 pages) and I read it over a week, just a few chapters at a time, so it was difficult to keep track of - for instance - the names of the people who owned the bookshop where Charlotte worked, or her various friends and their spouses.

Still, I gradually warmed to the book and found it quite difficult to put down as I neared the end. Some of it was predictable, but there were a few surprises along the way; each chapter begins with a brief, first person account from Charlotte's past, in italics to distinguish it from the main text. I quite liked this device and felt it helped me to get to know her better. The one person I never liked was the estate agent.

Recommended to anyone who likes light women's fiction that's primarily character-based. ( )

I am very familiar with Brookfield's style of writing having read most of her other novels. This one is equal to those that have gone before. Very enjoyable indeed, superior chik lit, great characters and minutiae of detail. The scene in the graveyard did not hang together well. I am sure there is a really great book coming very soon from this author, this one is very good. ( )