'Stop trying to be brave all the time, Rachel. Fear is a necessary part of being alive. Sometimes we have to let it show. We have to own up to it or it drives us mad.' Rachel Elliot is single and attractive, a director of a successful advertising agency, with a handsome lover, close friends, and a clutch of beloved godchildren. But as her fortieth birthday approaches, so does a whispering fear that she might have missed the point... Almost imperceptibly over the years her friends and contemporaries have settled down and started families. Rather less subtly her parents have been urging...

'Stop trying to be brave all the time, Rachel. Fear is a necessary part of being alive. Sometimes we have to let it show. We have to own up to it or it drives us mad.' Rachel Elliot is single and attractive, a director of a successful advertising agency, with a handsome lover, close friends, and a clutch of beloved godchildren. But as her fortieth birthday approaches, so does a whispering fear that she might have missed the point... Almost imperceptibly over the years her friends and contemporaries have settled down and started families. Rather less subtly her parents have been urging...

'Stop trying to be brave all the time, Rachel. Fear is a necessary part of being alive. Sometimes we have to let it show. We have to own up to it or it drives us mad.' Rachel Elliot is single and attractive, a director of a successful advertising agency, with a handsome lover, close friends, and a clutch of beloved godchildren. But as her fortieth birthday approaches, so does a whispering fear that she might have missed the point... Almost imperceptibly over the years her friends and contemporaries have settled down and started families. Rather less subtly her parents have been urging...