By Julie Sara Porter, Bookworm Reviews
Spoilers Ahead: Second Best is not a well known book and the 1994 film starring William Hurt and Chris Cleary Miles is even less so. But it should be recognized as a moving story about two wounded souls, a 37-year-old man and a 10-year-old boy who find their way to each other becoming a family.
Graham Holt is the Postmaster of a small English village. An introvert, Graham is unable to connect with most people because he felt neglected by his parents who had a loving relationship with each other but not with their son. After his mother dies and his father suffers a painful stroke, Graham longs to adopt a son.
This realization comes about humorously as Graham absently writes "a son" on a shopping list between "milk" and "something for lunch (ham or pork pie." ("Was there a row of shelves at Safeway on which sat boys, school uniformly dressed, priced by size, colouring and age, and with sell-by dates stamped to the soles of their shoes?" Graham idly wonders.) Realizing that this is more than an idle thought, Graham feels lonely and begins the adoption process to foster a son.
Enter James "Jamie/Jimmy" Lennards, a troubled young boy. He has very little memories or affection for his mother, who committed suicide when he was 3, but he dearly loves his father, John, a repeat offender whom James has built up as a mercenary or Freedom Fighter. Because of his separation from his parents and his placements in different foster homes, James has a tendency to act out in violent outbursts and frequent self-harm. However, he harbors the dream that he and his father,.John, whom he "loves best in all the world", will be reunited together as a family.
Much of the book deals with Graham and James going through the foster process together. Graham follows the different rules and regulations to the letter. He fears opening up to James on a personal level, suggesting that they begin as a "partnership". James having been through the foster process knows how to play the game better than Graham and knows when to show affection, when to withhold, and when to manipulate. The two almost dance around each other uncertain but also longing to be loved.
It becomes a relief for the Reader when the two finally open up to each other. A camping trip in which James shows experience and Graham reveals ineptitude ends up pretty well as the two bond. After Graham is overcome by the death of his father, James comforts him whispering that everything will be okay giving Graham a conch shell as a reminder of the only time Graham was happy with his father.
As the two open up, Graham and James' characters develop as Graham becomes stronger and more protective of James and James becomes more tender and more respectful towards Graham. Cook develops his two lead characters well with such care.
Another character that develops thanks to Cook's excellent writing is that of John, James' biological father. While he has a criminal past , he is never written as an unrepentant bastard. A letter that he writes to James is broken with remorse about his failure to be in James' life. Then when he returns to the book, depressed and dying from AIDS, Graham lectures him like an older brother but is empathetic enough to invite him to live with him and rekindle his relationship with James.
This unique living arrangement and a final chapter in which Graham chases after James, who is terrified at the sight of his broken dying father, leads to Graham, James, and ultimately John to accept each other as a loving family.
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