Fanny Mc Bride was a large cheerful indomitable Tyneside widow with a large cheerful family. When she reached her fifties she began to feel for the first time in her life a little lonely. All but one of her sons & daughters had married & left home leaving her with spare time on her hands. Being a woman of resource Fanny took on a job at the local Ladies which was to prove a surprisingly stimulating experience. Another new interest was the arrival of some rather odd neighbours at Malhattans Hall the tenement block which was Fannys home. Then there was her long-standing feud with Mrs Flannagan the problem of the favourite childs unsuitable marriage & the puzzle of Fannys one unmarried son who was far from being a typical Mc Bride...