Hilary Collins, tip-toeing towards forty; recently graduated; mildly anxious and in a faltering relationship with her long-time boyfriend, has a secret, a toad of a secret she fears will swallow her whole, digest her and spit out the bones of her relationships and friendships alike, dissolving her life as it is. She has landed a fortune and is not all that happy about it.  In a quandary about a lot in her life, this is a coming of middle-age story, side-tracked by what Hilary describes as an ‘inheritance.’ Windfall or rotten apple? Hilary must take a bite to find out.

Set in 2010 in home counties England, Hilary, often introspective, contemplates middle-age in a life that might not have gone to plan. This is one woman’s search for a place, happiness and a niche in her own world and a whole load of self-discovery along the way. Hilary’s tale is shot through, peppered with humour, often with a blunt feminist edge, often closet heard but always with a different voice.