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The main character in the book is a young woman in her early thirties called September. At the start of the story, she’s living in a flat with her boyfriend Shaun. He’s a laid-back kind of person who doesn’t seem to care when there’s no money for things they want. Worse, he tends to spend money they don't have, in the hope of eventually making it back, and has made some purchases that have irritated September.
Shaun is a creative thinker and while he has some jobs now and then, there’s nothing full-time. So September works every hour she can at the supermarket where she’s employed. She doesn’t particularly like her job, but she sees no way out of the debt spiral which sees their credit cards charging more and more interest every month. She can’t quite understand where all the money goes, but utilities and groceries are expensive, as is the rent.
Then, out of the blue, she receives a letter from a solicitor, which changes her life. And it’s cleverly written, so that this isn’t - for the reader - a ‘deus ex machina’ device, but something we’re aware is going to happen from the start. There is a brief prologue telling us the contents of one of the letters, and there are also some intriguing flashbacks.
In particular, we see someone known as Aunt Lucia visiting her niece April who is besotted with newborn September. Lucia recalls that April’s mother had a hard time after giving birth, and think it’s perhaps a good thing that April’s parents are not visiting at this stage. It doesn’t become clear why this is the case until later in the book.
It’s also puzzling to learn that September was adopted at around fifteen months old after being abandoned. Her adoptive parents were wonderful, giving her a good life and plenty of positive experiences. They both died a few years before the main story begins, and she misses them. She also feels very alone in the world; nobody seems to know anything about her birth, and she assumes she has no living relatives.
Then the letter arrives, and September learns something so astonishing that she can hardly believe it. It’s a classic ‘Cinderella’ moment, except that September is an adult, and her childhood was basically very happy. So when she learns that a great aunt died, she doesn’t grieve, at least at first, although she is very surprised to find that she had some blood relatives, and sad that she never met her.
The novel follows September’s movements and decisions as she comes to terms with what has happened, and gradually makes some decisions. Not that she’s a very decisive person; she tends to let things happen around her, and give everyone the benefit of the doubt. Despite increasing concerns about her life with Shaun, she loves him and wants him to be involved in her changing circumstances. At least, she does until she discovers the extent of their debts, and that he has been lying to her…
I found a lot of the story very moving and could empathise with September as she uncovers documents and letters relating to her past. The author uses flashbacks to show snippets of what went before. So we learn, alongside September, what happened to her parents, and how she ended up abandoned at a hospital. It made me realise again how small decisions and mistakes can make huge differences to how lives turn out.
As with others by this author, there’s a strong literary theme to this book. September finds gifts of books which her great aunt had wrapped for her for over thirty years. Each is described briefly as she reads them, many of which I knew of (though not all). She also joins the book group which Lucia used to host, and becomes friendly with the diverse members. There’s also a new and quite low-key romance that slowly creeps up on her. It’s a satisfying book, and I particularly appreciated a brief epilogue that tells us an outline of what happens to September and the new friends she has made.
‘Second chance book club’ is a fairly easy read, with nothing particularly tense. It’s quite moving in places, and could perhaps trigger negative emotions for anyone struggling with divisive families. But with that proviso, I would recommend it to anyone wanting a well-written character-based novel.
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