This felt like a book of two halves - the first was 50-something Alice coming to terms with an empty nest after her youngest daughter Robin leaves home and Alice is left with endless days ahead of her with no substance. She realises that she no longer loves her husband and so embarks on a different, secret life which brings excitement and love back into her life. The second half of the book is set around when Christmas when Robin returns home for the festive season but and never leaves and life takes a different twist and turn for Alice. Set in the 80s this feels like a book of its time - although Alice is in her 50s the way she is described she seems a lot older and quite dowdy and as I'm a woman in my 50s I hope to god, I'm nothing like her! I didn't like her as a character, she came across as being really spoilt and selfish and even her daughter Robin seemed to be quite similar in personality.