The Second Chance Book Club of Harrogate

Submitted: 23rd April 2025

The Second Chance Book Club of Harrogate

Stephanie Butland’s first two books were memoirs of her dance with cancer. She then turned to fiction. Her 8th and latest novel is The Second Chance Book Club. Her other novels include beloved bookshop tales Lost For Words and Found In A Bookshop.

Stephanie Butland

Map locations inThe Second Chance Bookclub

Stephanie lives near the sea in the north-east of England, but now she’s here with this fine read:

The Second Chance Book Club Stephanie Butland

Map locations inThe Second Chance Bookclub

Can you tell us about September and why you chose that name for her?

When we first meet September she has a rubbish boyfriend, a job that doesn’t fulfil her, and no real prospects for change. But then she gets a letter telling her that she’s inherited, and everything changes – not necessarily in the ways she thinks it will. The reason I chose September will become clear if you read the novel – I can’t really tell you without spoilers!

Harrogate Library

Map locations inThe Second Chance Bookclub

She inherits a house in Harrogate, did you go there to research. where did you go and what did you discover?

I did have a research trip. I’d been to Harrogate before, and part of the reason I chose it for the book was that it has the feeling of being quite a special, lovely-day-out kind of place, so that if you inherited a house there that would feel like a real change of fortune. (Of course, as September discovers, even the most beautiful places have a darker side that holidaymakers might not see.)

Map locations inThe Second Chance Bookclub

Betty’s Tea Room

There are a few really important locations where I spent time. There’s the library, which is a wonderful old building. And my husband and I selflessly had afternoon tea at Betty’s Tea Room. We walked around The Stray in search of September’s inherited home. I also walked a lot of the routes September would have walked, like her trip from the train station to the house she’s inherited. The house itself doesn’t exist; I found the location and then spent a lot of time on estate agency websites choosing how I wanted it to be!

The Stray

September does quite a bit of shopping which I imagined being around Petergate and the Market Place.

Map locations inThe Second Chance Bookclub

Market Place

Map locations inThe Second Chance Bookclub

I also spent an excellent morning in the Pump Room museum, though that didn’t make it into the novel. The coffee, pastries, buns and cakes at Farmhouse are amazing! And of course I can’t go anywhere without going to a bookshop. I loved dropping in to Imagined Things.

What does it mean to have a second chance bookclub?

September’s aunt, Lucia, has brought together people who life has dealt a hard blow to. She’s motivated by the idea of being kind, and, as every reader knows, one of the kindest things you can do for someone is to put a book in their hand.

Map locations inThe Second Chance Bookclub

Are you in a bookclub yourself. what books do you read and what do you talk about?

I am a Quaker and have recently joined my local Meeting’s book club. We take it in turns to select a book. My picks have been ‘Unless’ by Carol Shields and, coming up later this year, ‘Ethan Frome’ by Edith Wharton.(I reject the idea that it’s possible to have a favourite book but if I did have one it might be ‘Ethan Frome’!)

We’ve also recently read ‘If Nobody Speaks Of Remarkable Things’ by Jon McGregor and ‘The Song Of Achilles’ by Madeline Miller. We meet on Zoom and talk about what we thought/felt about the book we’ve read. We’ve got some non-fiction and poetry coming up too.