THE SECOND CHANCE STORE by Lauren Bravo is set, for the most part, in a charity shop in England. Lauren Bravo is a new-to-me author and what appealed to me about this title was the premise and its promise of second chances for its characters.
The story is told from the lead Gwen's point of view, with alternating chapters on objects she receives as donations in the charity shop. The lead character's story is sometimes intertwined with those of the objects we read about in the "in-between" chapters. That's how the random objects' stories make sense and are not just anecdotes.
The book discusses some of the popular trends, in simpler terms, of our times; which is donating our excesses to charity and or volunteering at charities. I have previously read some wonderful stories where pre-loved and second-hand objects were a central theme. It is the second chance these once-loved items are given which brings warmth and hope for them and the buyers. In a way, the charity shop in this story becomes a catalyst for Gwen, too, in finding a second chance for herself as she goes through a kind of mid-life crisis.
While THE SECOND-CHANCE SHOP cleverly deals with something mundane and slow-paced, it delivers what it sets out to for its characters. My only complaint is that it's a tad dragged out and could have been more compact and to the point, maybe a bit more briskly paced. Other than that the core of the story is pause, reset, and restarting one's life after a hiccup with the help of some new, eccentric people and charity shop objects.
If second chance is your favourite trope and charity shops fascinate you with their hidden, interesting stories behind the donated items, I am sure you will find THE SECOND-CHANCE SHOP compelling.
If clothes can get a second chance, why can’t we? Brimming with life, love, and the stories bound up in even the most everyday items, The Second Chance Store is a tale of friendship, loss, and dusting yourself off and starting over—a novel filled with humor and a testament to the enduring power and joy of charity shops.
City dweller Gwen feels like she’s living a secondhand life. She’s thirty-eight, perpetually single, and in dire need of a dentist’s appointment. Her friends are busy procreating in the country, and conversations with her parents seem to revolve entirely around hedge borders and the trash pickup schedule. Above all she’s lonely. But then, isn’t everyone?
Then she’s let go from a job she drifted into a decade ago and never left, and Gwen realizes it’s time to make a change, starting with cleaning out her apartment. In the charity shop where she literally and metaphorically unloads her baggage, she discovers a group of weird and wonderful people devoted to finding a new home for donated items that have lost their use elsewhere. Gwen volunteers there—and finds a new home for herself among her fellow workers while discovering joy in the untold stories of secondhand things.
Now it’s time for Gwen to get out of her life in pause, and to find a way to move forward with bravery and humanity—and more regular dental care.
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