Judy Astley

Thea’s parents decide to host a big family Christmas in a house by the sea… even though they are, in fact, about to split up....

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....

Have you ever wondered what your ex is up to? When Nell was a student, she and Patrick were a serious item. They were inseparable, and she really thought he was The One. But then Alex came along....

Imagine – you’re in your early thirties, settled and sensible, and wanting to move up the property ladder....

Jay has always envied her cousin Delphine. While Jay was brought up in a large, noisy and chaotic family, Delphine was indulged, perfectly dressed with a co-ordinated bedroom...

Jess has just waved goodbye to her darling son, off backpacking to Oz.....

Funerals are strange things. Kitty hadn't really wanted to go to this one - a old school friend she hadn't seen for years....

It is almost a year since Sean and Thea met, and it's been a roller-coaster ride: they're getting married on Christmas Day....

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....

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....

A Proper Family Holiday was the last thing Lucy was expecting to have....

Bella has given up on men. Happily divorced, her latest boyfriend just omitted to tell her about his current wife, so she’s back on her own again. Then her ex-husband turns up....

Viola hasn't had much luck with men....

It’s 20 years since Miranda, then 16, holidayed in Cornwall and her life changed forever.....

It was Heather's silver wedding anniversary. But this important milestone did not mark her marriage to Tom....

After 20 years of marriage, Nina had offloaded serial philanderer Joe and was happy enough. But into Nina's new, carefree life some disturbing elements began to appear....

Every July, the lucky owners of Cornish holiday homes set off for their annual break....

Stella works as an agony aunt for a teenage magazine....

Do the friendships you make on holiday have anything to do with real life? It might be sensible to hope that they don’t....