There's always time for a second chance...
At least that is what people say. But what if it's true? What if you could walk out the door and build a whole new you, a whole new life?
Clare and Jack are about to find out.
He's a middle-aged barrister, living life as he 'should'. She's a recently divorced dance teacher and mum to a teenage daughter. Change isn't easy for either of them.
But it's not impossible.
If they do something BIG, could the next half of their lives be the best half?
This book has been a long time coming! With a title change and publication date being moved, it felt as though I'd never get my chance to shout about it. At last, it's here, available to buy now and it's a story that I highly recommend.
As I've aged myself, I am keen to embrace novels with characters who have lived, who have baggage and who life has tested and at times, treated unfairly. In On The Bright Side, Nell Carter has created two such characters. in Clare and Jack. Both in their forties and both having had lives that have flung tragedy and pain at them. There comes a time though, when most of us say enough. When we know that it's time to make a drastic change, and this is the story of Clare and Jack's change.
It's beautifully written, the characters are vibrant and I invested so much into them. Whilst they've never met before, their decisions to make changes in their lives throw them together in a really unexpected way.
Jack has decided to travel, he's almost fifty and has finally listened to his best made Ollie. He's also decided to put something back into the community, and his generous offer enables Clare and teenage daughter Grace to make their own changes. Clare and Grace have experienced pain at the hands of their own family members and Clare can take no more.
Jack and Clare are hesitant and hold so much back when they first meet, but it is Jack's generosity and ability to allow Clare to gradually realise her own worth that makes their relationship flourish.
Nell Carter deals with some deeply emotive topics within this story, there's a feeling of sadness and loss that runs throughout, yet there's also a great deal of hope and it's young Grace that creates most of that. Whilst only fifteen-years-old, she's experienced enough and has a sense of maturity that teaches her mother, and Jack so much.
A novel about letting go, and facing up to the past, and also about being brave enough to embrace the future. About taking chances and allow others to help you. This is a warm, heartfelt and wise story with characters the reader will grow to love. Highly recommended.
Ten Things About Me - Nell Carter
1) I’m a novice archer and love it #aimforgold.
2) I have three granddaughters! When I typed that, I did it almost squinting, because I don’t feel old enough to have had children, not to mention grandchildren!
3) I hate spreadsheets with an unreasonable passion. Columns, especially those with numbers make me actually shudder.
4) Though I absolutely loathe to feel cold, Winter is my best-loved season.
5) My favourite film is ‘The Shawshank Redemption’ and favourite novel ‘One Day’ by David Nicholls. Chalk and cheese, I know, but both have brilliant characters immersed in ‘I want to know more’ stories.
6) I think (maybe) I’ve lived other lives because of that feeling I get when I visit places - like Deja-Vous on steroids! For example, I’m convinced I once lived in New York on the Upper East Side where I was a rake-thin old lady with steel grey hair (in a bun) and I had a diddy little dog that I’d walk in Central Park.
7) Two things I really wish I could do: Swim (have tried but the fear is tooooooo big) and fly a plane (but considering I have to have consumed much alcohol to even be in the back, I’ll probably never attempt this. Again, the fear…)
8) I’m fascinated by genealogy and, when I have time, want to delve into my ancestor’s history. Who knows what lies beneath and I’m sure there’s at least one novel there!
9) I adore being by the sea. My dreams through 2020 have been set in blue shimmery places and I always wake up missing it.
10) I pretended I could type in order to get my first job in London. The stranger who hired me, as her secretary, is one of my best friends today. Those first porky-pies still make said friend laugh today #true story #thoughliesarebad
Their grown-up daughters have flown the coop but, like
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