Her five difficult sons worship their father and blame Emelda for his leaving them. On top of everything else she has to struggle with a new job at the local supermarket where she ends up working with her eldest sons girlfriend. For comfort she turns to her one true friend - ice cream.
Emelda views most of the big moments in her life as being associated with Ice Cream, and the arrival of the Mr. Whippy Ice cream van playing Greensleeves, on one of her darkest days brings her back to her childhood and leads her on the path to regaining her confidence and eventually taking on her husband.
On September 17, 2008, it was announced that City Theatre Dublin, in conjunction with MCD, would be developing a stage version of Mrs. Whippy, set to run in Dublin's Liberty Hall Theatre in late October of 2008. This is to be Cecelia Ahern's first work for the theatre.