Funerals are strange things. Kitty hadn't really wanted to go to this one - a old school friend she hadn't seen for years - and she hadn't bargained for the way it made her think of the past. In particular, it made her think of the baby she had given birth to when she was eighteen, the baby her parents had insisted she give away for adoption. She'd called her Madeleine, and she remembered her every day, what she was like, if she was happy.

Every July, the lucky owners of Cornish holiday homes set off for their annual break. Loading their estate cars with dogs, cats, casefuls of wine, difficult adolescents and rebellious toddlers, they close up their desirable semis in smartish London suburbs - having turned off the Aga and turned on the burglar alarm - and look forward to a carefree, restful, somehow more fulfilling summer.Clare is, this year, more than usually ready for her holiday.

Melanie finds herself single again after years of being one half of a couple. Her friends predict loneliness, frustration, disaster. Her parents are convinced she’s a failure in life. But Melanie is overwhelmingly excited to be able to do her own thing – she plans a programme of behaving badly, after a lifetime of behaving properly.

Sara’s mother told her that she shouldn’t marry Conrad – that the twenty-five-year age gap between them would tell in the end. The end is now (apparently) approaching fast. Conrad, a famous painter, has decided that it would be good to die before he gets seriously old and so spends his time sorting out his chaotic life. Sara, teaching art at a local college, finds that she has plenty of male company – other people’s husbands, ones she tells Conrad all about, who are just good friends to her.

Alice has a scrupulously organised, comfortable life in West London with Noel - her second husband whose main ambition in life is to sharpen his golf handicap in time for retirement. But Alice’s once-famous bohemian mother, Jocelyn, residing in shabby splendour in a crumbling house on a clifftop in Cornwall, becomes ill and Alice, with her daughter and stepson, goes to look after her. What she finds there appals her.

Jenn has always prided herself on being a city girl – she insists on easy access to good coffee, great food from around the globe, not to mention an easy commute. So, when her job takes her to one of the most famous Italian wine regions in search of the perfect Prosecco, travelling to meetings on a tractor is a bit of a culture shock.

Viola hasn't had much luck with men. Her first husband, Marco, companion of her youth and father of her only child, left her when he realised he was gay. Her second, Rhys, ended his high-octane, fame-filled life by driving his Porsche into a wall. No wonder her family always believes she needs looking after, and her friends think she really shouldn't be allowed out on her own...Which is why, at the age of thirty-five, she finds herself shamefully back at home, living with Mum.

It was Heather's silver wedding anniversary. But this important milestone did not mark her marriage to Tom, her often-absent airline pilot husband and father of their two teenage children. It was for her first marriage - a wildly romantic, secret affair, when she and Iain - 12 years older than her and the heir to a Scottish baronetcy - had eloped immediately after her final school speech day. She was just 16 at the time.

It’s 20 years since Miranda, then 16, holidayed in Cornwall and her life changed forever. Now she’s back again – with her mother Clare and the ashes of her stepfather Jack, whose wish was to be scattered on the sea overlooked by their one-time holiday home. The picturesque cove seems just the same as ever, but the people are different – more smart incomers, fewer locals, more luxury yachts in the harbour.

Molly’s 70th birthday comes as something of a shock. The woman in the mirror certainly looks every day of those 70 years, but inside Molly feels she still has so much more living left to do. Widowed and living alone with her cat Crumper, Molly fears she is slipping into a cliché of old age. When Molly’s sister Nell appears on her doorstep, distraught that her husband of more than 40 years, Phil, has left her for a younger lover, the women decide to seize the day. By the morning, flights are booked, bags are packed and off they go for an adventure in Spain.

Sophie, bereft after the loss of her mother and her husband's betrayal, walks out. She seeks refuge with her friend Jill on the Isle of Wight, not suspecting she is about to be drawn into another crisis. For Jill, a psychologist, has her own complex reasons for persuading Sophie to stay.

When Judith loses her partner, she loses her life in Malta, too - including the beautiful view from her sun-warmed balcony of the sparkling blue waters of Sliema Creek. Back in England, Judith finds a spare room in her sister’s house where she grew up - but with it comes a whole host of family dramas. Nursing a broken heart, Judith knows she must find happiness again - and rebuild her life on her own terms. Could an island in the sun be the answer she is looking for?

Lainey Summers feels blessed to have her dream job writing for a renowned foodie magazine. And the day she goes to interview chef Rick Oliver at his new restaurant - Aleatory - in London’s popular Piccadilly, is the start of an unexpected journey. When Rick is offered the opportunity to jet off to a monastery in Andalucía, to film a cookery competition for Spanish TV, Lainey goes, too, to cover the story.

Indigo Bloom is on her way to beautiful Wishing Wood with some very big news. Two months ago, she shared an incredible night with the most amazing man. She didn’t think she’d ever see River Brookfield again, but she never imagined she’d be showing up out of the blue to tell him she’s pregnant with his child. Indigo’s heart longs for a fairy-tale ending. There’s just one problem: River doesn’t remember who Indigo is.

Filmmaker Lily's life is all about work and adventure. So when she suffers an accident on her travels and finds herself recuperating in the quiet French seaside village where she spent her childhood, she can't wait to escape. Not least because Olivier - Lily's childhood friend and former crush, who she has spent the last 13 years avoiding - is staying next door....