loved this book about Martha and her family , her husband Kit, daughter Sacha and twins Finn & Charlie and their transfer from England to NZ for their chance at a new start in their new country and the disaster with Sacha's addiction to Meth amphetamines and the destruction that unfolds around them ,, read it in 2 days I loved it that much ,descriptive and completely believable . highly recommended . ( )

Second Chances is a moving, heartbreaking story of family tragedy. Martha has moved her family from London to New Zealand in a bid to start fresh after her husbands business collapsed. Her four year old twins, Finn and Charlie are delighted with their new home, Kit has stopped drinking and is painting again, only 16 year old Sacha is having trouble settling in. Desperate to believe that she has made the right decision for her family, Martha ignores the signs of her daughters discontent until one tragic night threatens to destroy them all.

Set in and around Hawkes Bay, a small town in New Zealand, where the author herself in fact lives, Second Chances opens as Martha sits anxiously at the bedside of her critically injured son, Finn, who has been rushed to hospital after a fall from the balcony of their home. From there, the novel alternates between the past, building to the events immediately preceding Finn’s injuries, and the present, delving into the lives of the McNamara family. Narrated in the first person by Martha, wife to Kit (Christopher), mother to twin boys, Finn and Charlie, and teen daughter Sacha, Second Chances examines a family whose new life in paradise becomes a nightmare. I don’t want to inadvertently give too much away, as the suspense in the story relies on the slow unfurling of past and present. It is enough, perhaps, to suggest that Martha is a women keeping many secrets, and those secrets threaten to tear her family apart.
The characters in Second Chances are realistic, flawed yet in ordinary ways and sympathetic as a result. Martha and Kit’s relationship has its ups and downs but there is love and commitment at its core. They are both loving parents though Martha tends to be more overprotective, especially where Sacha is concerned. Sacha is Martha’s daughter but not Kit’s, she has never known her biological father and Martha claims her pregnancy was the result of a one night stand with a man she never saw again. I thought Norman rendered the complex dynamics of the family skillfully and I believed in their reactions and motivations.
Second Chances also explores important social issues such as unemployment, relocation, mental health and substance abuse and the author provides insight into their effects on an ordinary family. The novel challenges the smug mantra often espoused by the middle class ‘this couldn’t happen to me or mine’.

A compelling story, Second Chances is an emotional and thought provoking read. This is a book that I’d particularly recommend to parents of young adults but I believe it will appeal to any reader who enjoys fiction that examines a family in crisis. ( )