Three women meet at a New Year's Eve party, and determine both to stay in touch, and to widen their horizons by taking up new opportunities. Gemma, hostess of the party, is happily married with a teenage boy and pre-teen girl, and has no idea that her world is about to crash around her... although a prologue lets the reader know in advance.

The other two women are less developed as characters and I sometimes confused them, although they're dealing with somewhat different issues. It didn't matter too much, and I enjoyed the way their lives gradually become more linked due to various circumstances.

Some important issues are covered sensitively in this book, which is written in quite an informal style. More bad language than I'm comfortable with, but that's not unusual in modern fiction.

Overall, I liked this book and found the ending encouraging and satisfying, if perhaps a little too tidy. ( )