The Museum of Second Chances

From bestselling author Jo Leevers comes a heartfelt story of lost things and second chances.

Every morning, Evelyn Silver walks the shoreline before the rest of Portheast wakes, gathering what the tide leaves behind. Broken cups. Lost trinkets. Objects others have discarded. In her small Museum of Maritime Curiosities, each one earns its place—because to Evelyn, every forgotten thing deserves to have its story told.

At the heart of the museum lies her most precious possession: a fragment of Cornish lace, found pinned to her blanket when she was abandoned as a newborn. For over sixty years, she has kept it close, hoping someone might one day recognise it and tell her who she really is.

So when the local council threatens to close the museum, Evelyn stands to lose far more than her livelihood. Forced out of her solitude, she rallies the community around the museum's curious collection—and as the objects begin to give up their secrets, lives start to intertwine in ways nobody expected.

Because sometimes, the most precious things aren't lost at all. They're simply waiting to be claimed.

Jo Leevers is the author of the bestselling Tell Me How This Ends, a Radio 2 Book Club pick, and The Last Time I Saw You, which Good Housekeeping calls 'a great book club read'. She's also the author of the interiors book Victorian Modern and writes about interior design for leading magazines and newspapers. Jo has two grown-up children and lives with her husband in Bristol.