Second Nature
A Love Story
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- $24.99
Publisher Description
New York Times bestselling author Jacquelyn Mitchard’s novels, with their riveting stories and unforgettable characters, have won the hearts of millions of readers. Now, from the author of The Deep End of the Ocean and No Time to Wave Goodbye, comes the fierce and moving tale of one woman’s fight for her identity and her life when fate holds out a second chance.
Sicily Coyne was just thirteen when her father was killed in a school fire that left her face disfigured. Twelve years later, a young surgeon, Eliza Cappadora, offers hope in the form of a revolutionary new surgery that may give Sicily back the grace and function she lost. Raised by a dynamic, tenacious aunt who taught her to lead a normal life, and engaged to a wonderful man who knew her long before the accident, Sicily rejects the offer: She knows who she is, and so do the people who love her. But when a secret surfaces that shatters Sicily’s carefully constructed world, she calls off the wedding and agrees to the radical procedure in order to begin a new life.
Her beauty restored virtually overnight, Sicily rushes toward life with open arms, seeking new experiences, adventures, and, most of all, love. But she soon discovers that her new face carries with it risks that no one could have imagined. Confronting a moral and medical crisis that quickly becomes a matter of life and death, Sicily is surrounded by experts and loving family, but the choice that will transform her future, for better or worse, is one she must make alone.
An intense and moving story of courage, consequence, and possibility, Second Nature showcases the acclaimed storyteller at her very best.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Mitchard's (The Deep End of the Ocean) fans are familiar with the Cappadoras, a family that has suffered the most improbable tragedies. This time out they enter the story through Sicily Coyne, a young woman who lost her face and her father in a tragic fire. Though her indomitable spirit (and the help of spitfire aunt Marie Caruso) has helped her recover, and even thrive, her world collapses again when she discovers that her fianc was partially responsible for starting the fire and is with her only out of guilt. As their relationship ends, Sicily begins a transformation with Dr. Eliza Cappadora, who gives her a total face transplant, a radical procedure that photographer Beth Cappadora chronicles with her camera. Soon after, moody filmmaker Vincent Cappadora becomes Sicily's lover. But a passionate week in L.A. leaves Sicily pregnant and facing some serious choices. Compounding matters is Vincent's vacillation about their relationship and Sicily's difficulty in navigating a world where she's no longer perceived as a freak. Though readers unfamiliar with Mitchard's previous novels may not appreciate the connections to the Cappadoras, they will embrace Sicily, a strong and extremely empathic heroine whose disfigurement is made clear without being overdone. Though Mitchard's choice to move between tenses can confuse, this is a riveting tale.
