'I sometimes wonder how on earth people as pathetic as you and me are allowed to start a family. It's far more dangerous than driving a car, and yet there's not a single test...' Briony and Keith are not finding parenthood easy so their friends the delightful Ross and Rosy, engineer a relaxing weekend away in Wales: intelligent adult company, good food and drink, complete rest - and absolutely no children. But making up the numbers by inviting the unpredictable Charles and Serena doesn't make things restful. Add an uninvited anarchic adolescent and a fanatical farmer and Briony and Keith's idyllic weekend erupts into total chaos... An uproarious study of modern parenting and matrimonial tribulations.

Sunday. July, 2001. Hendon, centre of the world. A car salesman, alone in the showroom, performs an intimate act of love and worship. Pigeon, crashing through the plate-glass window, witnesses everything. This almighty puncture is the beginning of the big end. Worlds collide. Lives swerve and skid. A pile-up of secrets, sex and sabotage. Can the immaculate bodywork remain undented? And who's ultimately behind the wheel?