In 1982, after finishing their final exams, four girls laze away an idyllic Oxford summer afternoon by the river, drinking champagne and speculating about the future. At the dawn of the twenty-first century, three of them return to their old college for a reunion to honour the memory of their friend Penny. Annie, the one who dreamed of being an actress, has gained nationwide fame in I LOVE ANNIE, her sit com about the trials and tribulations of a single, thirty-something, would-be actress. Ursula, who wanted to be Prime Minister, has a husband, three children and a career as a lawyer. Manon, half French and always a mystery, now works as a hat-check girl in a Soho club. "We were the tasteless tart, the sexless swot and the femme fatale," says Annie, "and Penny was perfect." But how easy is it to leave behind the labels that once stuck to you? In her scintillating novel, Imogen Parker has, once again, precisely caught the mood of the moment. WHAT BECAME OF US brilliantly pinpoints the hopes of a generation on the brink of a new era.