Second Chance: A Novel [Paperback]

F. Daniel Montague (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1999

After the death of his long-estranged father, a man is forced to deal with buried feelings and secrets when he returns to his father's house to settle the estate. In the small New England coastal town, he discovers the two half-siblings he never knew existed, and slowly begins to put together the nightmarish events of his childhood. Driven to overcome his past tragedies, he begins a relationship with a beautiful neighbor, who has her own painful secrets which may ruin any chance of future happiness together. Only by healing the wounds of the past can the couple build an unending love.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

After a 30-year estrangement from his father, Charlie, 42-year-old divorced Chuck Carver attends the old man's funeral to discover that Charlie has left him his waterfront houseAplus two new siblings and a beautiful new friendAin Montague's melodramatic second novel (after White Wings). The house, on the Marblehead, Mass., waterfront, is worth more than a million dollars. His orphaned siblings, a half-sister and a gay half-brother, and Chuck's new neighbor, single mom Dawn Ireland, all share fond memories of Charlie, but when Chuck strikes up a romance with Dawn, he is revisited by painful memories of the sexual abuse he suffered at Charlie's hands. Montague's blunt, straightforward prose draws attention to the book's fatal flaw: that forgiveness, understanding and reconciliation come too easily for these pedestrian, wooden characters. The romance between Chuck and Dawn unfolds in an unconvincing flash, while convenient plot devices wrap up complex psychological conditions too neatly to be believed.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Montague's second novel (after White Wings, Dutton, 1997) falls into what is sometimes called "women's fiction" but from the men's perspective. Chuck Carver, who is divorced, inherits and returns to the childhood home he left over 30 years ago with his mother in Marblehead, MA. His homecoming introduces Chuck to two step-siblings he never knew he had, brings to light childhood memories of his father and of sexual abuse, and leads him to Dawn Ireland, the beautiful, successful, divorced mother who lives next door, and her son, Brian. Before Chuck and Dawn can live happily ever after, however, Chuck must come to terms with his childhood demons and Dawn must face some angst, both childhood and adult, of her own. The broad plot outline is reminiscent of Elizabeth Winthrop's Island Justice (LJ 4/1/98), written from a women's perspective, but that novel has a lyric quality Montague's lacks. A secondary purchase.AFrancine Fialkoff, "Library Journal"
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Signet (April 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451197380
• ISBN-13: 978-0451197382
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,798,696 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A terrific love story, June 11, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Second Chance: A Novel (Hardcover)

For three decades Chuck Carver has been estranged from his father Charlie. However, that ends when the old man dies. Even then, Chuck purposely misses Charlie's funeral and would never have returned except for the pleading insistence of his father's lawyer to at least listen to the reading of the will. Charlie leaves Chuck a million dollar home on the waterfront of Marblehead, Massachusetts and two half-siblings.

Next door lives single mom, Dawn Ireland. Chuck and Dawn are attracted to each other. However, Chuck suffers nightmares from the sexual abuse he endured as a child at the hands of Charlie. Marblehead just increases this pain. Still, Chuck decides to extend his stay because of his growing relationship with Dawn. However, the nightmares are getting worse, leaving Chuck to wonder if this is the dawning of a lifetime relationship or the sun setting on his last chance for happiness?

SECOND CHANCE is a well written romantic novel that builds its premise on love being able to overcome the most nightmarish of childhood traumas. Chuck and Dawn are a wonderful pair, whose memories of Charlie are polar opposites of each other. The support cast including Chuck's half-siblings and Dawn's teenage son bring the deceased Charlie into perspective through their different viewpoints, , a brilliantly developed plot device that leads to much reader empathy for the cast of characters.. Though the novel too easily surmounts past horrrors to be totally believable, Dan Montague is rapidly rising as one of newest stars in mainstream fiction..

Harriet Klausner