“Discovering her genius was like slowly unwrapping a gift. First the ribbon, then the paper, then the box, all the while anticipating the treasure inside. Prudence understood that the gift could only be accessed through practice.”
The Second Ending, Michelle Hoffman
“After six decades of piano lessons, Pierre Millet had not known one little genius. He could not say the same for stage mothers.”
The Second Ending, Michelle Hoffman
Prudence and Alexei have very similar backgrounds. They both started piano lessons at a young age, showed proficiency, and then lived as a child performer for over a decade. As the older character, Prudence has since quit performing, started a family, and is now an empty nester, struggling to find purpose in her daily life. Alexei is still in his performance era, currently hosting a dueling piano TV show.
The main distinction between the two, besides their stations at the beginning of the novel, is that Prudence has natural talent while Alexei has skill from 20 years of practice. The story lightly delves into the difference between the two, highlighting that natural talent still needs practice and that skill alone can never surpass passion. The culmination of these differences is in the ending. Prudence walks away from the competition before the results are announced while Alexei learns to use his passion and showmanship to mimic the natural talent he’s lacking.
“‘There is no beauty in being exploited,’ he said. Then he pulled the wagon on down the sidewalk.”
The Second Ending, Michelle Hoffman
The secondary plot to this story centers on two people who have been slighted by Prudence trying to prove she’s a fraud. Some other reviewers seem to feel this plotline was unnecessary. However, I found it delightful, and it propelled the pace of the book forward. As a child, Prudence flubbed a few keys for a performance of Swan Lake, and one of the ballerinas, Tamara, never forgave her. Tamara is the quintessential foil to a child prodigy, the “It Could’ve Been Me.” She’s spent the last thirty years hating Prudence, and now has a way to ruin her life. I wanted to dislike Tamara, but everything about her is so sad that I couldn’t stop pitying her. She doesn’t successfully ruin Prudence’s life, or empire. Instead, she is forced to take a hard look in the mirror and realize she’s been living her life for spite, not herself.
Similarly, Bobby has never forgiven Prudence since she ran away and annulled their marriage over twenty years ago. He’s the original mastermind of the fraud scheme, determined to blackmail Prudence. Bobby was easier to dislike, because Bobby is an ass. But a book where you like every character just isn’t as good. Bobby is the only character who doesn’t get a satisfactory ending, because he doesn’t deserve one. He never stopped blaming everyone around him for his own problems.
“So at half past midnight, she padded down the curved staircase, followed by Mrs. Wintour. (There is, after all, no more willing companion than a dog).”
The Second Ending, Michelle Hoffman
I would have liked this book without the large crew of side characters, but I wouldn’t have loved it. I fell in love with Mrs. Wintour the dog, Stuart the husband, Pierre and Gabe the tutors, and Jesse the 19-year-old HOA employee. Hoffman’s ability to weave these characters in and out of four different main points of view, while keeping my attention, was admirable. Each character was full fleshed-out, unique, and had charming idiosyncrasies. While the four featured characters kept the story going, these five characters made the whole thing enjoyable. After all, who can be mad at a dog named after Anna Wintour?
Over, this was a fun romp through middle-age blasé and mid-twenties paralysis. It’s definitely going to be in my top 10 for 2023 books!
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