Second Time Lucky by Sophie King

Corazon Books ~ September 2013

Stately Bridgewater House has been converted into new apartments, bringing together a disparate bunch of people, whose interconnecting lives are the focus for this interesting look at life, love, families and friendship. As each of the individual residents lives are revealed we get to know them in fine detail - there’s an aging actress who is slightly down on her luck, a bewildered and newly divorced mother of three, a misfit American PhD student struggling with infertility and the usurped lord of the manor, who has enough emotional baggage to sink a battleship. In the space of a year, the residents of Bridgewater House are about to discover that living cheek by jowl with each other makes for an eventful and hectic time.

In Second Time Lucky, Sophie King gets right into the nitty-gritty of relationships, but does so in lively style. On the surface, this is a light and easy to digest story, but read a little deeper and it tackles some really difficult subjects, like, what happens when families fall to pieces and the unbearable heartbreak of lone parents who are denied access to their children. The story also touches on grief, loneliness; financial difficulties, marital infidelity and teenage angst in such a realistic way that you can empathise and understand what each of the characters are going through. Each character is brimming with life, but none tend to outshine the other, with the exception of the dog, Hector, who is a real superstar. 

 

At the end of the novel, I had enjoyed a story which was well told, which had good resolution and a pleasing conclusion. 

I was left with the idea that everyone deserves a second chance.

My thanks to Corazon books for my e-copy of this book to read and review.