Continental Drift — Libby Purves

Henry is a radio DJ: young hip and single, but fretting about his little son. Philip is an ex-MP, ruined by scandal and disowned by his party; Diana, his long-suffering wife, is struggling to find a life of her own. Marianne is three stone overweight after glumly replacing her husband with chocolate eclairs and gin. Lizzie is battling with illness and trying not to think about it. Into their lives, by accident, comes Eva: a naive and happy Polish backpacker working her way round Europe. As the values of their comfortable world clash with those of emerging Eastern Europe, the five English characters find comedy, tragedy and romance unfolding with bewildering speed.