Customer Reviews

The Season of Second Chances: A Novel

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I had just finished a rather disappointing book and opened this one not knowing what to expect. I was happily surprised when I was instantly hooked from page one. The writing is so engaging. It's also clever and funny, a bit erudite at times (it is about a college professor of English!) and deals with the heroine's transformation from just going through the motions of life to becoming an active participant. The other characters are a nice assortment of quirkiness but don't let this make you think that the story is a light read - it's not, there are major issues dealt with here, one rather horrifying, but all showing us the growth that takes place in our heroine as she takes steps that engage her fully in life.
Joy Harkness (who is 48) takes a huge job leap from a Manhattan college (Columbia) to Amherst College in western Massachusetts. She joins a group of professors wanting to transform the method of teaching Shakespeare, but that's just a sideline in the story. The real story involves her getting involved, in buying and restoring a house, in socializing with her office mates, in learning to feel and relate. Her trials at this are both touching and hilarious. The other main character, Teddy, the handyman genius who is transforming her house has his own hard and crazy story. He dropped out of school to support his mother and Joy attempts to transform him are a major part of the story. Get ready for a major mother/son disfunction here.
I thoroughly enjoyed the book. The characters, from the secretarial temps to the bachelor professors who make a play for Joy are so well and humorously described. Hopefully this won't be the author's last book. I want to read much more.

This book about a character named Joy was a real Joy to read through. She's a college professer who takes a big huge leap of faith to move out of the city (Manhatten) and into a somewhat ramshackle house in the country (Massachusetts). This novel is largely about the rennovations of that home but also about Joy's personal renovations, something that's a dead giveaway in the title of this novel. This is not chick lit, like I had feared, but rather a straightforward story of one woman starting over at age 48.

This novel is peppered throughout with funny characters that are well written and imagined by the author. And the main protagonist is likeable but more important than that, she's highly believable. I think if you've ever made a major life change you can relate to this and if you want to live vicariously through someone else's bravery about making life changes, this is the story for you. This author has an easy to read style of writing and I very much appreciated that. It's easy to get into this book and then thoroughly enjoy it along the way because of this. I know firsthand that second chances are real and this book just reitterates that reality so well.

I actually did not want to review this book. I told them that I did not have time to read nor was I a good writer. They did not listen. I told them that I only review decorating books (with lots of pictures) and that my blog readers don't want to hear about fiction novels. They did not listen and sent me this book anyway. I am so glad that they did not listen to me and now you need to listen...

Have you ever read a book that at the end of each chapter you would count the pages of the next chapter just to see if you had time to keep reading? I just finished The Season of Second Chances and my world stopped for two days. For two days I did nothing but sneak a chapter here and sneak a chapter there. I was hooked and hooked hard!

The Season of Second Chances is a story about Joy Harkness a 48 year old literary professor who is asked to take a new job in a new town. Joy thinks nothing of moving and finds herself buying and restoring a rundown Victorian. In comes Teddy Hennessy, the town's handyman, to help Joy restore her new home. I was surprised at my feelings of trust toward Joy. When I realized that her vantage point could not always be trusted, I found myself mad at her and emotionally invested in her well-being. But more than these two characters, Diane Meier writes a story that is clever and funny. It is a story of personal growth, taking chances, finding your way in life and when tragedy strikes Joy and her new friends, this becomes a story about family.

My favorite quote from the book comes from Joy "But my vantage point was perhaps, too close to the shore to see that I had, at last, begun to swim toward my own life" (page 162).

My mind was like a movie, playing out each eloquently written sentence, scene by scene. Even now my mind still drifts to Joy and her life. I was left wanting more and will continue to follow Diane Meier.

I loved this book and so will you.

A special thank you to Evelyn Frison & Diane Meier for allowing me the opportunity to read this story from my mind and heart. This book was given to me by Evelyn Frison in exchange for my honest opinion.

This contemporary novel about a grown-up lady facing life-changing experiences never disappoints. It is believable, concise, witty, and erudite. I kept expecting it to become predictable, but it kept me guessing down to the last page with a totally acceptable surprise ending. The characters are well-developed. This is many cuts above chick-lit. Joy Harkness and her new friends, not to mention her ex-Coyotes, will bring a smile for a long time. Read it and share it!

Do you ever wonder how many go to New York City looking for success and excitement? Next query - how many find it? Joy Harkness did not. She had long nurtured a dream of going to Manhattan as "a way out of Saint Louis." Some 17 years later she tells us, "It takes a keen eye to tell a false start from a dead end. I was finished with New York."

To many Joy's life was enviable - she'd been at Columbia University for 12 years, received a full professorship and published a book of poetry. Yet she remained isolated with few friends or involvement in the greater community or, for that matter, in life. Joy doesn't hesitate when she's offered a teaching position at Amherst College and the opportunity to be a part of a group working toward changing teaching methods. She sells her apartment, packs her belongings, and goes.

Although determined to remain in her self-styled cocoon, removed from others, Joy is immediately embraced by her office mates, and urged (dragged might be a better word) to take part in social activities in which she has no interest.

What does Joy care about? A recently purchased aged Victorian home in much need of repair. That had been a spur of the moment buy and quite unlike anything she has ever done. And, she cares about Teddy, a handyman who turns her relic of a residence into a warm, inviting home.

Teddy is one of the most appealing characters to be found. A boy/man in gimme cap and shorts he is caught in a dysfunctional relationship with his mother (a thin lipped harridan), is a genius at renovation and repair, has an unerring eye for color and decor, an encyclopedic knowledge of historic homes, and an innocent, honest concern for others.

As Joy is unwillingly drawn into the happiness and travails of those around her she begins to learn how to relate, how to genuinely feel for others. This evolution is described with both insight and humor, whether she is fending off the advances of the Coyotes (male faculty members with an eye for someone new) or trying to care for four young girls who patiently teach her the importance of a pastry bag and how necessary it is to keep hair conditioner on hand.

THE SEASON OF SECOND CHANCES is an empowering, entertaining story reminding us of the importance of home, family, and trust. It is, at times, an invitation to step outside of our familiar boundaries and perhaps discover what we may yet become.

As Joy reaches her home after an especially busy day she looks at the windows "glowing from within,' and comments, "There was life in this house, and I was a part of it." We can rejoice with her, and learn.

Enjoy!

- Gail Cooke

Joy has built walls around her heart. She doesn't have any real friends and finds little joy teaching at Columbia University in New York City - it isn't so much the school or the city - she doesn't find joy in anything. She is handpicked by a department head from Amherst College. She feels no real connection to anything or anyone, so she takes the leap and moves to Amherst. She buys a house that is in tremendous disrepair - quite symbolic of how she feels about herself. She hires a handyman who begins to repair the house and restore it to it's original victorian beauty. The restoration of Joy's soul also begins as little by little she begins to let those around her get close. Joy is surprised that people want to befriend her at the college and is slowly drawn in by them, letting down walls that she built over a lifetime.

This is a beautifully written, character-driven literary novel. At times I chuckled over how Joy felt about herself - something a lot of middle-aged women could relate to. But, this book isn't just for middle-aged women. I highly recommend this book for anyone who truly wants to experience a well-told story that will touch your heart.

At the beginning of "The Season of Second Chances," main character Joy
Harkness is 48 years old and looking at a big life change. Years ago she had a
marriage that failed. She then moved to New York City and lived there for
15 years as a university professor. She never became at home there. And she
missed out on much of life.

As the book begins, she moves to be a professor at Amherst College in
Massachusetts. She will there be involved with a fascinating educational
project. She needs to find a new place to live. Her NYC place sells quickly and
for a high price. Money is not a problem for her.

In Massachusetts she is drawn to a house that needs to be completely fixed
up and remodeled. It's not her type of thing at all--and yet she is drawn
to it. She buys it.

The man who does the work on the house for her becomes very important in
her life. The people she gets to know through work are very different from
those she has known before in life, and she becomes different.

The author is very savvy about style, and the descriptions of things in
Joy's house as they develop, clothing, other people's homes, places she
visits on trips--are rich and satisfying. The changes in Joy are meaningfully
expressed, and she makes some good decisions.

I think a lot of people will want more of Joy's story. It would be great
to read about her becoming more and more involved with other people and
blossoming more. Perhaps the author will write that someday.

...and believe me, I rarely set aside a book once I've started. Even with the real stinkers, I tend to want to see what happens anyway. I started out really enjoying this, even setting aside the fact that the plot is really unrealistic to the point of being like a weird, academic fairy tale (show me the person whose life really lines up so perfectly when they want a fresh start). But the beautiful writing soon gave way to seemingly endless long, pointless descriptions, over-used italics, run-on dialogues meant to cram an entire conversation into one sentence, and unrealistic events. If this book had been thoroughly edited, it would have been a gem, I think. The author really does have a magical way of writing. I found myself so annoyed and bogged down that I shut the book mid-sentence somewhere in the middle.

The Season of Second Chances by Diane Meier tells the story of Joy Harkness and the new chapter she faces in her life. Leaving behind her relatively solitary existence in New York City as a professor at Columbia, Joy heads north and takes a position at a Massachusetts university. The novel chronicles Joy's transition to her new life and the self discovery that accompanies the transition.

Without acknowledging that she wanted or needed to, Joy leaves behind her NYC existence and is suddenly confronted with all kinds of complications to her previously straightforward life. Despite her best efforts to remain aloof, she is embraced by a group of friends and the rhythm of their reliance on each other. To many, this instant community would be welcome but to Joy it feels claustrophobic and she struggles to feel comfortable at weeknight dinners and daily lunches with her new friends. Joy reflects on the difference between her life in NY and her life in Amherst:

My time in New York hadn't exposed me to people who let you see their most intimate or ardent inner lives. I do remember thinking that life at Columbia was devoid of people of goodwill and benevolence. And I remember thinking that they must have had their kind and sweet human emotions removed before they took their jobs, or perhaps the pressures of their academic bred it out of them. Here in Amherst, in contrast, every day seemed to bring another heart onto another sleeve.



Along with new friends, romance also enters Joy's life. Actually, as opposed to the friends who she seems to feel have thrust themselves upon her, romance is welcomed in by Joy. She makes, in my opinion, some unwise choices in the romance department and these choices result in additional complications. Teddy, one of the men with which Joy becomes involved, is enmeshed with his overbearing mother and this limits his ability to fully be in a relationship with Joy. For all his emotional immaturity, Teddy also sees through Joy's aloof exterior to her fears and weaknesses and their relationship brings even more self revelation for Joy.

My assessment:
This book is excellent - it is smart and well written and the characters are complex and interesting. As much as Joy may not seem to always be the most likeable character, I think there is a lot readers can relate to in Joy's struggle to make changes to her life and the discomfort she feels with the changes. The book certainly gave me much to consider.

I thought this book would be chick-lit. Not at all: what unfolded over the next several hours was the joy of reading an engrossing story (I didn't put down the book until I finished it) about a woman finally growing up and engaging with the broader world around her. Saying that reading this novel was delightful is an understatement...it was a tour de force with a great story, excellent writing, and engaging characters.

I was delighted and surprised at how much I enjoyed reading this novel, and I am sure you will be too.