The first chance came in 1945. Barbara Hamlin thought she was doing the right thing when she ran away to Devon to marry her sweetheart, ignoring her parents' disapproval for the sake of love. But the absence of her family seems to cast a shadow over the wedding, creating a sense of impending doom strengthened by her new husband's behaviour...And when they set up home together in a dingy flat in Battersea, Barbara begins to realise the full scale of her folly. No longer the caring friend and lover, Michael reveals himself in all his boorishness: idle, drunken and violent, he treats his wife with shocking insensitivity. With the marriage proving to be disastrous, it seems Barbara's chance at happiness has come and gone...Moving and evocative, Second Chance is a vivid saga of joy and pain, full of pathos, perception and unforgettable characters.