In spite of what her elderly neighbour believes, she hasn’t murdered her husband who left her in favour of a twenty-eight-year-old - the bimbo - and, with help and hindrance from her two best friends, Pippa and Bev, her children, Chloe and Adam, her mum and Great-Aunt Millie, she begins to come to terms with life as an older divorcee.

If the romantic aspect of Alison’s life leaves a lot to be desired (including sex, which is something both her parents and her daughter appear to be enjoying), the everyday aspect is full of incident. From the peculiarities of the office photocopier to the agonies of skin care for the over fifties, Alison goes through it all.

Meanwhile Great-Aunt Millie is asked to leave her nursing home because of an incident with a custard slice, and Charlie the dog develops a fondness for Alison’s knickers.

In a year of well-intentioned ineptitude, Alison is thrown out of a pub for the first time in her life, goes on a diet eight times (at least), finds out twelve unappealing things about dogs and discovers that first impressions can sometimes be misleading.

(Alison's diary is written by Liz Hinds. You can find out more about the author by visiting her blog www.liz-and-harvey.blogspot.com or her website www.lizhinds.co.uk)