The Best of Times
By Penny Vincenzi
(Doubleday, Hardcover, 9780385528245, 608pp.)
Publication Date: July 14, 2009
Categories: Contemporary Women, Literary
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In a matter of seconds, absolutely everything can change …
In this masterfully crafted page-turner, peopled with intense characters and centered on one devastating moment that involves them all, plot-twist queen Penny Vincenzi vividly captures how the actions of one person can dramatically affect many in the blink of an eye.
On an ordinary Friday afternoon, on a major motorway outside of London, a trailer truck suddenly and violently swerves across fives lanes of traffic—careening cars into one another like dominoes and leaving a trail of chaos and confusion. Within the space of a minute, an astounding miles-long pileup has amassed, and, as the survivors await help, their stories unfold.
Vincenzi expertly maneuvers the plot between the panic-stricken husband trapped in his car with his young mistress, his adultery sure to be discovered; the bridegroom trying frantically to get to the church on time (he won’t); the widow on her way to reunite with the love of her life after sixty years, now forced to ponder whether she’ll ever see him again; the junior doctor waiting to receive the crash victims in the ER … And at the epicenter of this field of destruction lies the truck driver, suffering from memory loss, while the mysterious hitchhiker, the only person who knows what really happened, has fled the scene.
Spellbound by these intimate and evocative tales, we watch as fate takes its powerful course and the far-reaching effects of the crash ripple through the lives of hundreds of people. Written with incredible verve, candor, and wit, Penny Vincenzi reveals human behavior in all its fascinating detail as she challenges her characters to face crisis boldly—and she surprises us with the results at every turn.
Penny Vincenzi is the author of several major bestsellers, including Sheer Abandon. Before becoming a novelist, she worked as a journalist for Vogue, Tattler, and Cosmopolitan. She lives in London.
1. The role of chance in our lives is a major theme in this novel. Given the outcomes of the accident for the main characters, how do you interpret the difference between chance and fate in the book? Do you believe in fate?
The Raves Are in for Penny Vincenzi:
“Penny Vincenzi is poised to fill the gap in the American realm of Cinderella fiction. With so few current writers able to summon the quaint allure of such women’s fiction without stooping to sensationalism, Ms. Vincenzi really is an anomaly.”
—Janet Maslin, New York Times
“Nobody writes smart, page-turning commercial women’s fiction like Vincenzi.”
—USA Today
“Penny is the doyenne of the modern blockbuster.”
— Glamour
“She’s the plot-twist queen.”
—Adriana Trigiani, author of the Big Stone Gap trilogy and The Queen of the Big Time
“Soap opera? You bet—but with her well-drawn characters and engaging style, Vincenzi keeps things humming.”
—Joanne Kaufman, People
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