Time and Chance
Alan Brennert
Tor, Jul 5 2011, $14.99
ISBN: 9780765329523
Thirteen years ago Richard Cochrane left New Hampshire seeking fame and fortune as an actor. Now as the last performance of a three month Broadway run of Brigadoon ends, he knows he has come a long way until a voice no one else hears interrupts his performance. He blows his lines. Later the despondent performer learns his mother died. Depressed over her death and his terrible acting, Richard returns home to a lonely existence in New Hampshire.
Thirteen years ago in New Hampshire Rick Cochrane dreams of Broadway, but instead marries the woman he loves. The couple raises a family, but over the years he resents his sacrifice.
As each Cochrane looks at their respective unhappy and unfulfilling life, a switch occurs. Richard the actor occupies the body of Rick the insurance man; while Rick resides in the body of Richard. Both approaches the change with euphoria as they each has a second chance to travel the other path they once rejected.
With nod to Freaky Friday inside the Twilight Zone, Alan Brennert provides a fabulous character driven fantasy that looks deep at choices and their aftermath to the chooser and his or her degrees of connection and separation. Both of the male Cochranes are unhappy with their respective lives so they welcome the switch. The support cast in New Hampshire and Manhattan enhance a thought provoking whimsical tale with deep metaphors starting with Brigadoon.
Harriet Klausner
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