Heart-Wrenching & Beautiful
A Mother’s Second Chance by Sarah Lefebve is the most beautiful and heart-wrenching contemporary novel about love and loss; grief and guilt; faith and families. It is a novel that I savoured and was emotionally invested in. It was a book that I never wanted to end.
This is a book about loss and how it affects all those involved. A best friend, Lou, and her husband are tragically killed, leaving their two children to be looked after by Zoe, Lou’s best friend. Friends for over thirty years since meeting at secondary school, the grief is very raw, “I am angry at my friend… that she died.” Grief throws up many emotions. It is a question of wading through the grief journey. “One day you’ll wake up and though the pain will still be there, it will be a little duller. A little easier to bear.”
Loss never goes away. “It’s okay to cry… You don’t get a quota of tears.” Tears can come when we do, and when we don’t, expect them.
Guilt is the bedfellow of grief. “It’s okay to laugh… It doesn’t mean you don’t miss them.” We are allowed to smile and laugh again. “The start of spring. A beautiful but painful reminder that life does not stop. Even when your best friend dies.” We feel that life should stop turning when loved ones die, but the wheels just keep spinning.
The children left behind are five-year-old Phoebe and her baby brother Zack who is not one yet. Phoebe’s grief is hard to deal with as her pain cannot be taken away. “She [Phoebe] asks if it is possible to un-die once you have died.”
Love never dies. “They [Phoebe & Zack] will forever be the love that links me to the best friend I ever had.” Loving her children is the last act of love that Zoe can do for Lou. “We will make sure Phoebe and Zack remember Louise and Rich. They don’t need a house to do that. And we will help them make new memories.”
We hear of a painful journey to conceive. I found the following quote incredibly moving: “Phoebe was their fifth and final go [IVF]. Not because they had run out of money, but because they had run out of tears.”
Within the book we see that the grief journey is different for children and adults. For children, it is a journey of Puddle Jumping. For adults, grief is a river of grief.
We witness the love that envelops the younger children, as Zoe’s older children wrap the little ones in love.
Loss forces us to look at our own priorities. What is most important? Wealth? Jobs? Family? To love those around us, is priceless. “My dad is a man of few words. But that kiss is loaded with so many of them.”
Just as the new, blended family is beginning to emerge through the fog of grief, another discovery is made that threatens to rock and disable the foundations. Another decision is called for – bury the truth and live a lie? Or tell the truth and face the consequences? The moral dilemma is real.
I absolutely loved A Mother’s Second Chance. It was an emotional read that turned me inside out. It was also a very beautiful book. The characters were likable and easy to empathise with. I am sorry that it is ended.
I received a free copy from the publishers. A favourable review was not required. All opinions are my own.
JULIA WILSON