The Season of Second Chances — Diane Meier

A HOUSE IN AMHERST, MASSACHUSETTS, IS BEING REBORN. Wallpaper samples and paint chips, fabrics and bits of molding, form a magpie's nest around Teddy Hennessy, an offbeat but brilliant handyman who knows, as if by wizardry, how to bring the crumbling wreck of a Victorian back to life.

At the center of this house stands Joy Harkness. An irascible, smart, sharply funny, guarded college professor of a certain age, she has made a move so impulsive, so uncharacteristic of her insulated nature, that she wonders if what she's done might be evidence of a breakdown.

Pursued by a middle-aged lotharios, besieged by colleagues who insist upon the intrusion of friendship, and surrounded by Teddy as he oversees her renovation, shares makeshift meals, and imparts creative and practical wisdom on how houses become homes, Joy begins to see that everyone's life might be improved by a little restoration.

A witty, honest, and moving novel that captures the renovation not only of a house, but of a life, The Season of Second Chances shows us that coming-of-age can any age.