'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 Rachel to do the same. Managing a shocking incident at work is soon taking up all her energies and she adores her godchildren. So is a child of her own what she really wants? Or is motherhood just what everyone else wants for her? If she picks the wrong path there will be no turning back. . .