Review: The inner lives of seniors
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 01 21, 2014
A Ring, A Dance, A Second Chance is a gentle novel focusing on the interior lives of seniors – a vastly under represented population in fiction. Older characters are often side characters, and the novels I’ve read with senior protagonists have been about academics (not surprising because of how many authors make their actual livings…) It was refreshing to read something about regular people undergoing changes and reflecting on the changes in their lives and the world around them.The focal point of the novel is Katie, who was unexpectedly widowed, and just as she is pulling her life together and deciding how to move forward under her own steam is contacted by her high school boyfriend from 50 years before. He has also been widowed, and he wants to be with her. This is entirely plausible – I know people in my own life who have gravitated back to their young loves, but the rub here is that Katie now has the chance to be a modern, independent woman, and Taylor is as traditional as he ever was. Katie is living in the new, evolved world, but Taylor hasn’t had to evolve. Will they be able to step back towards each other?  Should they even attempt it?Jonell Kirby Cash has a warm, fluid writing style, and she captures her characters well. She also allows her novel to be more than a romance – it’s an exploration of personhood and change, and readers looking for pure romance might be disappointed, but anyone looking for a meditation on changing lives and the choices facing seniors will find it rewarding.