This was such a unique storyline! Sometimes I wonder how stories can be individual because there are so many out there, but this stands on its own. I really enjoyed the characters and was laughing out loud. I did piano lessons as a kid so I think that really connected with me.

I would like to thank Random House, Net Galley and Vanessa Duque ( who brought this to my attention) for the opportunity to review this book as an ARC. This is the first novel from the author, Michelle Hoffman. It tells the story of 2 people-Prudence and Alexei. Prudence Paddington Childs is almost 50. She is a wife, mother, successful ad jingle writer and a former child prodigy pianist. She started playing at 3, and was successful and adored. She stopped playing, wrote jingles and raised her family. She seems to have it all( wonderful husband, good children, a nice house, money)but she knows something is missing. She speaks frequently of starting a book club, but that doesn't seem to be what she needs.
Alexei is in his 20's. His parents took him from Russia when he was young, and put him in a musical conservatory in France. He is world renowned and now has his own TV show- Alexei Petrov's Dueling Piano Wars.
He also feels that something is missing.
Both Prudence and Alexei were groomed by their families to be a successful pianist.Prudence"s grandmother raised her and was a stage mother to end all stage mothers. Think Mama Rose from Gypsy, only not as nice. Alexei's parents gave more love, to the point of smothering. He has no idea of how to take care of his apartment, shop for food, buy clothes. He was groomed to play piano and nothing more.
This sounds like a bleak premise, and well could have been. Both the back story of Prudence and Alexei could have been grim unhappy tales. They both love music and the piano, and that is what keeps them going.
There are a lot of subplots. At times, some of the subplots seemed to overwhelm the main story.Prudence has an ex husband, who is down on his luck, and a secret that could ruin her. She also has a nemesis, someone from her youth. This person wants to bring Prudence down.
Alexei has his parents, who have given up everything for their son's success, and an ex girlfriend that he still pines for. Both Prudence and Alexei need to win the dueling piano competition, or
( they think) they will lose everything.
The story is good, if a bit meandering. Plots seem to come and go, along with the characters. The characters are quirky ( all of them ) but likeable. The chapter titles are all music related( Prelude in E Minor is followed by The Cover of the Rolling Stone.)It is a good book, and I will look forward to other books by this author.

I thoroughly enjoyed this read! Thank you NetGalley for my advance Ebook called The Second Ending by Michelle Hoffman. The characters were enjoyable and likable. You instantly fall in love with Prudence and learn to love Alexei. It was interesting to hear the psychological side of being a prodigy. I will be recommending this book and I will be reading other books by this author.

I absolutely loved this story and finished it in one day as I could NOT put it down. Prudence was a child prodigy on the piano but felt manipulated and exploited by her grandmother and her handler, so ran away and made a fortune writing popular jingles over the years. She has now been offered the opportunity to compete in a dueling piano show against a young virtuoso. when her ex-husband, Bobby, shows up and blackmails her with a secret that could ruin her. This story was so well written, and I especially enjoyed Prudence playing piano in a bar ala Billy Joel with all the patrons singing along! I highly recommend this for anyone looking for a great, fun read! Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and of course the author for my copy of The Second Ending. It's never too late to start again!

Reviewed for NetGalley:

Prudence, a former piano prodigy that reached her fame after creating a famous advertisement jingle is empty nesting with her daughters leaving for college.

When her husband brings home her childhood piano and a blackmail scandal ensues, Prudence agrees to air on a dueling piano show after years of no longer practicing the piano.

A fun, quirky book with some heart.

The Second Ending is a delightful story about second chances, following your dreams and, at least for me, making me wish I hadn’t stopped taking piano lessons! There are multiple characters in this novel, but the main focus is on the two main characters Prudence and Alexei. Prudence is the child prodigy how has abandoned music at the age of 20 and now that she is in her 50s is discovering the passion again. Alexei is 22 and always been managed by strict stage parents and he is discovering the gift of rebellion. They will be going head to head in a dueling piano TV show with the winner taking home $1 million dollars. The majority of the novel focuses on the back story of each and how they both are preparing for the show. Throw in a little blackmail and two very different music teachers who show Prudence and Alexei that music is about feelings and emotions, not just to play the perfect piece creates a great read. The writing is lyrical and does a great job on drawing you into the story and characters. A few places get a little slow and I could have done without the HOA story line, but overall a great read and I would highly recommend reading!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for an advance copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

“The Second Ending” is a debut novel by Michelle Hoffman. This is a book about second chances. There are two main characters - Prudence, a former child prodigy, with a rough upbringing who finally escapes thanks to commercial jingles, and Alexei, a current talented pianist who has claimed fame thanks to hosting and judging a TV reality series. There are a number of supporting characters, including an ex-husband, the current husband, parents, a person seeking revenge, and music teachers. I must admit to liking the two music teachers a lot - different styles, different personalities, but they each helped their students in ways they could relate. To me, the idea of this book was fantastic - but there were a number of subplots that took away from the main characters. In one case, Alexei’s parents added to his backstory, but Prudence’s ex-husband and potential exposer didn’t work as well as background or plot advancers. That might be an unpopular opinion, but while I enjoyed the remarks about music (you need to feel it not just play the notes), at times the storyline got bogged down in - well, being bogged down. At times this book game me “Where’d You Go, Bernadette” writing style vibes - something I didn’t really like. However, this book was different, so I do give Ms. Hoffman kudos for that. I could easily see this being a TV movie and being enjoyable. Plus, a huge shout-out for that cover - it’s eye catching, colorful, and gives an idea that the book is about music - and pianos. Overall, probably a 3.5 read for me, but rounded up to 4.

This book is delightful! The comedy and tone reminded me of Where’d You Go, Bernadette and Finlay Donovan. I didn’t love the ex-husband character/story line. Several other tertiary characters’ stories felt rushed and ultimately unnecessary except to provide a “look at how the music touched them” moment; I would have liked to see characters like the piano teachers and especially Prudence’s husband get a bit more room to breathe. Overall it’s a charming and funny read that had me listening to classical music in the background and fondly reminiscing about my days playing instruments. The author’s love of music really shines through!

Requested this on a whim after reading a formal child stars memoir and wanted something in the same wheel house. However this just wasn’t for me.

I truly enjoyed this novel which gives the reader a clever lens to appreciate the nature vs. nurture debate about artistic talent - in this case, involving two classical pianists pitted against each other in a dueling piano reality show. Is there really such a thing as a musical prodigy or is extreme talent the result of 1000 percent effort and unwavering dedication to one's craft?

Quirky Prudence Childs, the child prodigy turned 48 year old empty-nester mom with a mid-life crisis, will make the reader laugh and cry at the same time. Her nemesis, Alexei Petrov is a Russian born young pianist known for perfection in his music but maybe less so for his passion. Each of these artists, along with a host of supporting characters including Prudence's current and ex-husband, and the homeowners association president Tamara Quigley, are all impacted by the transformative power of music - and the potential to make different choices that will influence their own "second ending." An entertaining read with definite deeper threads that go beyond the reality show plot line. Michelle Hoffman's writing allows the reader to really appreciate the power of music to change the artist and his or her audience - whether it is an audience of one or one million. Highly recommend! Thanks to Net Galley and Random House for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is the story of two pianists. One, Prudence Childs, is a former child prodigy who was exploited by her grandmother after being abandoned by her parents. The other,Alexei Petrov, is a Russian pianist who hosts a piano competition show similar to The Voice or American Idol.

Prudence is married and going through an empty nest stage. She wants to sell her grand piano, but then decides to hold on to it and resume her career as a pianist. Alexei lives a very methodical life which is controlled by his mother. Both will be competitors on the show and both have very strong reasons to win.

This is a very straightforward, entertaining story that will have you laughing out loud many times. I really enjoyed it and recommend it when you want a light, fun read. Thank you to Random House and Netgalley for the ARC.

What an adorable story! Michelle Hoffman's debut novel, The Second Ending, is uplifting, about reigniting passions and finding dreams.

"How many people, Prudence wondered, lose sight of a dream because of one careless comment from a stranger?"

Prudence was a child prodigy, forced by her abusive grandma to spend her entire childhood practicing and performing piano worldwide.

Alexei is a classically trained pianist who has a regular gig competing on a reality TV show. While he lives far from his parents, they control his finances, schedule, and life.

Prudence and Alexei have parallel journeys as they escape their oppressive pasts and break free of their abusers to refind love and happiness in music.

Despite the child abuse regularly addressed in this story, it is not depressing. Instead, it is an inspiring tale of determining your dreams and following your passion, not someone else's. It's about the joy and playfulness that should accompany being an artist. It's about not being so singularly focused on perfection that the ordinary moments of life slip you by.


Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine for an ARC in exchange for my review.

4/5 stars! I really enjoyed this story. We have all read a book about some sort of musical/artistic prodigy or another and often they're fine. But this is the first time when we got the combination of seeing a younger star deal with this lifestyle, as well as someone who had dealt with it once in the past and was now coming back to it, older and wiser. I enjoyed Prudence so much; at times I found Alexei to be more 2-dimensional.

I received an advance review copy for free through NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily

If I could magically be good at one thing, it would be music. While I’d love to have athletic ability or be a polyglot, I could learn those things with enough practice. I don’t hear music the way musicians do, and at some point, talent is what sets them apart.

This book is a love letter to music, to the power of art, to something that I’m not sure I’ve ever heard but want desperately to understand. Hoffman achieves the near impossible in writing about music and thus conveying it in a non-aural medium, but still allowing the reader to feel the music inside themselves.

Four stars for this new book by Michelle Hoffman. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC for the purpose of this review. I felt the story was a good one and liked that the MC had to figure out what to do with herself now that her kids were away at college. That’ll be me in a couple of years and I dread it too!

I didn’t connect with the male characters as much and that left the overall book not one of my favorites.

Overall this was a good read but for some reason I kept thinking my grandma would appreciate it more than I did. I liked Prudence's antics but for some reason never really connected with Alexei's character.

Kindly received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Such a cute, quirky story! Loved Prudence and Alexei's characters, and especially loved her ex-husband's naivety.

Requested this on a whim after reading a formal child stars memoir and wanted something in the same wheel house. However this just wasn’t for me.

I was asked to review “The Second Ending” by Michelle Hoffman, and I started reading the novel without looking at any other previews or even reading the synopsis!

We meet Prudence who once was a precocious child prodigy and became world-renown—until she left it all to write commercial jingles. Yet, now Prudence is facing an interminable life with kids in now in college. Looking for some action, she decides to return to her first love by competing on Dueling Piano Wars, a reality series I wish really existed. She is competing against Alexei who has his own issues.

This is a cute story that I enjoyed much more than I thought I would and I mean that in the nicest way possible. I really wanted to be able to watch this show, though the vivid writing helped me picture exactly what was going on.

Thanks to the author, publisher and Net Galley for providing me an advanced copy of this delightful novel.

This book was awesome! It centers on Prudence, a child prodigy whose talents as a pianist are phenomenal but now at age 48, she is being threatened as a plagiarist because of a jingle she "wrote" years ago. At the same time, she becomes interested in a "piano war" with the celebrated Alexie even as she's contemplating divorce from her second husband. Lots of great plot lines, so many songs that I remember from my youth, and funny, awkward characters who often do what is least expected. I laughed and I cried and I seriously considered taking piano lessons...but we don't have a piano, so there you go!
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!