Left to Chance by Amy Sue Nathan
I am a sucker for places in real life and settings in books that spark my imagination. When visiting a new town in person or in the pages of a book, I imagine the vast and different lives I could take on in these new geographies. In these places, I imagine ‘what if’. Amy Sue Nathan’s Left to Chance sparked this same kind of longing.
A sort of inverse of wanderlust, Teddi, the protagonist of Left to Chance, journeys back home to Chance, Ohio. As a celebrity photographer travelling from fancy hotel to fancy resort, Teddi lives an enviable life mingling in beautiful places with the beautiful portraits she photographs. When the wedding of a friend calls her back to Chance, Teddi expects to find everything the same as she left it.
Dear reader, we all know what happens when a character has expectations! Nathan’s novel delivers here and doesn’t disappoint. You will keep turning the pages to find out how Teddi navigates the people, places, and secrets she thought she left behind!
Given my own love of place and how it intersects with the grand what ifs of life, Left to Chance fills the bill. The place is as much of a character as the people living in it. Readers will find themselves rooting for Chance, Ohio to win Teddi’s heart just as much as they will for the men that find themselves in Teddi’s path.
Transported is the best word to describe what Left to Chance will do for a reader. Like Teddi, you will surely enjoy the journey!