Celia, housewife, mother & wonderful cook, is celebrating her fortieth birthday. In her smart London home, her major worries are private schooling & the misplaced zeal of neighborhood watch vigilantes. But the house of cards collapses around her, as friends & a sister turn edgy & fickle, a long-time admirer turns into a crude jester, & Celia spies her husband embracing a ghastly woman in a come dancing frock.