Soothing and Relevant
The Second Chance by Kakoli Das explores many significant aspects of life. Loss of a loved one, piling responsibilities, handling teenage temperaments, and finding love for the second time.
The protagonist Tara is widowed early in life and now has to face the immense responsibility of her kids’ education and bringing food to the table. She takes up everything heads on, but over a period of time, she realizes it’s tough to handle unscrupulous clients and a cruel world. When she finds companionship in a like-minded man and decides to enter into a relationship with him, is she being selfish?
If not, why does her teenage daughter turn hostile? Her own daughter Jiya deems her an unfit mother and resolves to leave home.
Torn between her love for Animesh and duty towards her daughter, who does Tara choose in the end?
I liked the book as it deals with a fresh subject, an important one at that. When the universe grants a second chance to everyone, why are women judged when they plan to give love a second chance? Very often, by their own close relatives. Kakoli Das has done a good job indeed in shedding light upon this issue, by narrating a soft and beautiful story.
The flow is smooth, and the book calms your nerves with it’s sweetness. Also, it’s commendable how the author has described the beauty of Shillong and Assam. The hills, the mist, and the rains have been captured so effectively, that I am now eager to travel to Assam and Shillong.
The Second Chance feels extremely realistic and close to heart. A soothing, but relevant story, the book is definitely a one-time read.
