Dit verhaal over vier op leeftijd komende vrienden speelt zich af binnen de tijdsspanne van één jaar. De vier kernfiguren Celeste, Dudley, Polly en Edward zien zich geconfronteerd met een belangrijk verlies/afscheid in hun leven en even opent zich een gelegenheid tot 'herkansing'. Een verhaal over vriendschappen, relaties, geheimen, over wat telt in het leven, over de angst rond het naderen van de dood. Een verhaal hoe vrienden onderling mekaars wel en wee bekritiseren en bekommentariën.
Het verhaal kabbelt traagjes van januari naar januari, pluspunt is dat de prachtige natuur en de soms hevige weertoestanden als het ware mee een personage zijn.
Best te lezen als je zelf op leeftijd komt, niet bestemd voor wie jong of in de fleur van zijn leven is.
'Vormt de oude dag een herhaling van de puberteit?'. Herkansing is best een toepasselijke titel die in enkele van de levensverhalen een rol speelt. ( )

Alice Adams' novels, generally speaking, all start out with the potential to be an especially good, memorable story. It is hard to pinpoint exactly where she fails, but once again, "Second Chances" is disappointing.

The plot basically involves six old friends and their realization that they are getting old. As they look back through time, and ponder their past actions, they are hoping for a second chance to find true happiness.

Character development is good, but lacks depth when it comes to associating the characters to the plot. Alice Adams effort to incorporate current events into the script definitely date the plot, and that could be an asset, but there is no follow through on details. And it is frustrating how all the loose ends remain there, dangling, at the end of the story.

What was all the drama about Bill if he is so easily pushed aside at the end? Why was there no disapproval from any of the characters when Victor, the father of 7 or 8 children, runs away to a foreign country with Polly?

As much as the “friends” all gossiped throughout the novel, there sure weren’t many details revealed into any of their personal lives.

The one redeeming quality of "Second Chances" is that it addressed the issue of elderly people and their anxiety about aging, losing their spouses, and facing their own mortality. Had the story focused more on that theme, instead of alluding to secret covert activities it might have been a better novel - and received a better rating.

At the most - a light “chick-lit” summer read.

3 Stars August 2022 ( )

Written in an odd style, with lots of "quotation marks" around words. A readable story, dealing with old age & emotions & loss. Parts don't make much sense, the nutty CIA agent seems plopped in there for no reason. I had a little trouble with the ages of the characters, they didn't come clear to me, and they seemed a little inconsistent. The bit of "shock" at the ending was both completely obvious & a cheap tragedy. Or was it a final crime, that we, the audience can see but none of the protagonists can?