Recently widowed Evelyn Pringle cannot face the prospect of spending Christmas with her sister and her family so books a coach trip to the Isle of Wight. Evelyn has an ulterior motive for the trip as she suspects her late husband had a secret second family living there. Evelyn isn't sure what she's going to do when she gets there but she knows she needs to do something if she is to find closure.
Poor Evelyn. Right at the beginning she isn't a likeable character. At seventy-six she's set in her ways, self-contained and abrupt. As we get to know Evelyn we discover that there are lots of reasons for her ways, the main one being depression following the death of a child. There's also the generational aspect; keeping things to yourself to avoid gossip, just getting on with life, no time to feel sorry for yourself. This is compounded by a loveless marriage.
We begin to see changes in Evelyn over the course of the story, only small changes, nothing seismic, but small changes none the less. The majority of the changes are a result of the unlikely friendship Evelyn strikes up with two other women on the trip, Cynthia and Joy. Evelyn likes to keep herself to herself and initially looks down her nose at Cynthia in particular, thankfully Cynthia is one of those characters who likes to take charge and doesn't understand the word "no".
Both Cynthia and Joy are running away too and over shared secrets the women form a friendship. It's lovely to read about new friendships and supportive relationships focusing on the older generation.
The Second Chance Holiday Club by Kate Galley will be published in ebook format on 1st December 2022 and in paperback on 8th December 2022. My thanks to NetGalley and Aria Fiction for a review copy
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