Second Chance

Jane Green

Average Rating 9/10 (1 Review)

Step inside the home of Holly Mac and meet her successful, distinguished husband Marcus, notice how beautiful her home is and how gorgeous her children Daisy and Oliver are. You might say that they are the perfect family, but you would be very wrong... Holly is desperately lonely. She has spent her entire marriage trying to be the perfect wife but she is missing the one thing she really wants - a husband she can talk to, a soul mate to share everything with, someone like her first love and best friend Tom. Then a terrible tragedy finds Holly reunited with some old friends, and she soon realises that they too are each beset by their own problems.

Sitting round her kitchen table with her oldest friends - friends she hasn’t seen since school - now reunited by an unexpected tragedy and catching up on the past 20 years. On the surface, they are all successful and happy. But scratch a little deeper after that extra glass of wine and it’s not quite so straightforward: Paul and Anna are struggling to have a baby, Saffron the actress is still waiting for that really big break that - at 39 - is looking less and less likely, and Olivia, always the wallflower of the group, is newly single and mourning her lost love. And what about Holly Mac? Can she and her husband Marcus get their marriage back on track for the sake of the children? Or has someone just come back into her life who will change everything forever?

Review by Sarah (310110) Rating (9/10)

Review by Sarah
Rating 9/10
The title practically explains the whole essence of the book. But what I liked most about it was the fact that it’s a tragedy that can lead to people being given the opportunity to move their lives in a new direction.

Second Chance is the story of four friends who are reunited through the death of another old school friend. On the surface they all seem to be completely happy and content with their lives, but deep down they are all battling their own demons and problems. Paul and his wife Anna are struggling to start a family. Saffron is still waiting for her big break into Hollywood and Olivia is has just re-entered the world as a singleton. Then there’s Holly Mac, whose marriage to Marcus has been fizzling out for a few years. The question is can she get it back on track, or will a new arrival in her life change everything forever?

Everything about this book is brilliant. So much happens with the storyline that it’s practically impossible to put down. There was something about every character that I could relate to in some way, and it was nice to see a group of friends made up by such a variety of people.

It has that real 'life goes on' sort of feel to it, but not in an overly cheesy way. It was really touching to see the characters stop every now and again and remember that it was the loss of a friend that bought them all back together and gave them the opportunity to change their lives. But what’s even better is the fact that you barely meet the character that actually dies, but by the end of the book you feel you know him just as well as all the other characters. This is achieved through reminiscent memories that the four main characters have, which is a little cliché but typical of what happens after someone you know dies.

The most pleasing thing about the book is the non stereotypical ending. As I neared the final few chapters, I honestly thought I could predict how it was going to end and I felt certain that all the characters would get what they desired most and live happily ever after. So I was pleasantly surprised when I read the last chapter and found this wasn’t the case. Admittedly, the characters get what they want, but not exactly in the way that they or I had expected.
Sarah (31st January 2010)