Betty Mc Kay has a precious gift - the ability to discover and reveal all that is special in life. Born in 1930, she has had a wealth of experience that will be recognised by anyone of her generation: a childhood in the shadow of war, friendships and romances against the background of strong social and political divisions, the challenge of forging a career and founding a marriage as the world changed through the middle decades of the twentieth century. She has also had her eyes opened to sad family secrets and her horizons broadened by living abroad with her serviceman husband. Whether the incidents she relates in this autobiography are poignant, richly comic or uplifting, she writes with compassion, warmth and sound sense. Her insight is complemented by descriptive powers that make this an immensely readable and memorable record of a life lived with zest.