The Last Day of January

It's August 2019 and Sarah, a 50-year-old divorcee, takes up a one-year teaching position in her home county of Suffolk, after teaching in London for thirty years. She moves back to her mother's house as Joan, 83, has growing dementia. Being a carer is tougher than she had anticipated.

Added to this, Sarah, a staunch Remainer, is still fuming over Brexit and a lack of political responsibility as she sees it. She loved cosmopolitan London and is unsure about living and working in a Brexit strong environment. Sarah's sister Rachel and family live in Berlin and they compare UK and German mentalities, cultures and lifestyles. There are tensions between them, however, as they come to terms with their mother's condition.

On the upside, Sarah enjoys the new school and develops feelings for a fellow teacher, James, whose own mother has recently passed away. He also has issues at school, e.g. being wrongly accused of being too pally towards a boy in his class, with social media escalating the situation.

Additionally, Sarah becomes involved when the sister – Izabela – of a young pupil – Zofia – runs away from home to London and then to her native Poland. Following investigation, much of it through Zofia and with another colleague, Sarah is able to find out, ironically with Joan's help, who has aggravated Izabela's troubles. Over the five months leading up to Brexit Day, Sarah's life increases in complexity with issues from the minute to the global: relationships; interactions; belonging; acceptance; cyberbullying, homophobia and politics. This climaxes when she and James clash over Brexit, leading her to take positive actions to reconcile her feelings.