The Old Bitches' Boarding School

Following the death of her alcoholic newsreader husband, Lissy McAndrew sets out to save her magnificent but dilapidated Auckland mansion from compulsory acquisition by the corrupt local council. It is not a lonely plight since due to life’s vicissitudes a number of her friends and relatives have taken up long-term residence in her house – not all of them invited. Aided by a maverick lawyer who believes that setting the eclectic team up as a religious school might exploit a loophole in the law, and drawing on the talents of a good-looking gardener/world-class hacker, the women set out to thwart the plans of a morally bankrupt property developer and his misogynist mate, the mayor. But an overarching dilemma sits uneasily with Lissy as she begins to reflect on whether keeping the huge property intact is the right thing to do in a fast-evolving city where housing prices are extortionate and the prospect of owning even a small home is increasingly out of reach for most people. Perhaps she really does need to get out from underneath her wisteria arch and face the reality that the world around her has changed and she may have to change too.