On the day that her youngest child leaves home, Alice Hatton discovers two disturbing truths in a matter of hours.

The Empty Nest cliche is true.

And she does not love her husband Peter at all.

Now in her fifties, Alice is appalled to realise that she is no longer considered her own person, but is instead defined by her relationships - mother to her adult children, wife to her husband. Horrified by the thought of spending another thirty years with Peter in their North London suburb, Alice decides to take matters into her own hands.

What follows is a triumphant and liberating breaking of all the rules. But when Alice must cope with loss for the second time in as many years, she discovers what even the most apparently 'respectable 'woman is capable of.