It's Alison's wedding day, her gorgeous husband Luca is by her side, and everything is just perfect. Perfect that is, until Luca's first wife gatecrashes the reception and makes it clear that she's going to remain very much part of his life ...

A stunned Alison soon finds an ally in Fiona, a founding member of The Second Wives Club and similarly plagued by her husband's ex. There she's introduced to Julia, whose husband has stayed best friends with his first wife - to Julia's intense irritation - and to long suffering Susan whose entire life is surrounded by reminders of her partner's saintly former wife.

For the women, The Second Wives Club is a refuge and a lifesaver: somewhere to bitch and to gossip and to share horror stories about the exes' latest excess. But maybe if they all have the same problem they can work together on a solution? For enough is enough: it's way past time for the Second Wives to stop settling for second best ...

Jane Moore is a columnist for theSunandGQmagazine. She regularly presents investigative documentaries for Channel 4'sDispatches, on subjects ranging from supermarket secrets and broiler chicken production, through to food labelling and Britain's obesity crisis. She is also the author of the bestsellersFourplay,The Ex-Files,Dot.Homme, Perfect MatchandLove is on the Air. She lives in London.