BIRTHDAY PARTY THE

Poppy was about to be eighty, and to celebrate the birthday the whole of her family is gathering. Capable, bossy daughter Beryl, and her meek and mild husband Rodney, are coming from Bath in their caravan; smart, high-flying Maria is jetting in from New York with her rich dentist husband Mervyn; son Richard is coming with his partner Graham; and assorted grandchildren, lovers and even one great-grandchild, the adorable Daisy, would all be converging on her South Coast home to honour Poppy for having attained such a great age. The trouble was, she didn't feel old at all. As Poppy prepares to welcome them all, her mind goes back over her life - to her tough childhood in Yorkshire, to her mother, who scrimped and saved to bring her up decently, and so wanted her to make a 'good' marriage, to her three husbands and to Alun, the great love of her life who was taken from her by the war. Yes, she'd had a full life - a lot fuller than her family realise. As they toast their beloved matriarch, little do they know what an extraordinary and often shocking life she has led . . .