Jamie Norton's The Second Act Comeback explores how our decisions and environment can make or break us.
He presents this cautionary tale with a front-row seat to Mickey and Beth's 11-year-old marriage, which begins with the news of her pregnancy. She is six weeks along, but the couple hasn't had sex in six months. As one can imagine, neither Mickey nor Beth are happy.
From there, Norton lays out the couple's history, which starts when Mickey covers one of Beth's basketball games for the local Rockingham, New Hampshire, newspaper. Beth, who has NCAA Division I potential, plays a great game. Interning at the paper, Mickey writes a glowing story about her performance that gives him entrance to her life, and they begin to date.
Though the two have a mutual attraction, their dreams are quite different. After a gap year from high school, Mickey hopes to attend Boston University and major in sports journalism. Later, this is amended to New York University's theater program. Beth, meanwhile, is happy with staying in Rockingham and attending a nearby college. He can't wait to shake off their hometown while she's content to stay in her comfort zone.
"Beth didn't want a big life like I did. I wanted to get out of Rockingham, meet different kinds of people, learn about other cultures, see all the amazing things there were to see in the world. She wanted to stay close to home, close to her family, close to the buildings, streets, and people she knew."
Still, Mickey agrees to marry Beth and choose her version of life. The author reveals why Mickey makes this fateful decision through flashbacks, letters, and even transcripts of therapy sessions. Ultimately, the decision shatters the promise and potential of their lives, and they drift into dead-end jobs, debt, and resentment.
All is not lost, however. After years of pain and disappointment, an epiphany puts Mickey and Beth back on course to lives that better suit their dreams and visions.
I rate the novel four stars.
Reading it, I was prepared to give the book three stars. I didn't find Mickey or Beth likable and sometimes felt angry about his victim-mentality and her selfishness. The flashbacks and other tools to flesh out the story sometimes confused me about who was who and why the content was important. For me, a tighter focus on the couple would have been preferable.
But after reconsidering it, I found value in Norton's lessons about life. The blueprint of Mickey and Beth's lives serves as an instructive story about how important decisions—big and small—can affect the trajectory of our lives. This novel will certainly appeal to readers who prefer gritty, slice-of-life reading.
Finally, Norton is a fine writer whose prose is energetic and detailed. His writing style brings the characters and their struggles to life, making the story real and thought-provoking. I look forward to his next effort.
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