The year is 1961, and 22-year-old Maddy is all alone in the world. She gets a job in a small coastal town at a visitor attraction run by Mrs Sweetman, with the help of Bobbi and Jane. Maddy quickly feels part of this close-knit family even though Mrs Sweetman is a firm believer in corporal punishment - to which Maddy is not exempt! It is some time before Mrs Sweetman finds out the truth about Maddy, which results in her becoming Maddy's foster-mum. But because Maddy looks so young and no one but Mrs Sweetman knows her true age, she continues the pretence, and over time regresses in every way to the age of fourteen... and she loves it, even though her bottom pays the price when whacked with hairbrush, hand and slipper! After the summer holidays she attends the same school as her new sisters, where she very soon receives a hefty dose of corporal punishment from some of the stern teaching staff.

The author captures the essence of family life in a loving environment, an environment where spankings are commonplace and just a part of growing up. Laced with humour and schoolgirl pranks, this story shows how Maddy is able to re-experience her teenage years, free of the stresses and responsibilities of adulthood.