‘The Best of Times’ by Penny Vincenzi

  On a regular Friday afternoon, scores of people are traveling along a London highway when a truck suddenly swerves, triggering a massive pileup.
  Within the space of thirty or forty seconds, chance, that absolutely irresistible force, had taken its capricious hold on the time and the place. It had disrupted the present, distorted the future, replaced order with chaos, confidence with fear, and control with impotence. Lives were ended for some, changed forever for others; and a most powerful game of consequences was set in train.
  Traveling during that fateful Friday are a host of characters: Jonathan, a married doctor, and his mistress, Abi; Toby, who is late for his wedding, and his best man, Barney; Mary, a widow on her way to reunite with a lost love; and Georgia, a young actress going to a big audition.
  The accident sends ripple effects through the lives of all those involved as well as their families and the emergency room personnel who treated the injured. As the tremors of fate rattle the survivors, some will lose relationships while others will find new ones, many will have their secrets revealed and no one escapes the crash unchanged.
  “The Best of Times” by Penny Vincenzi is a thick book filled with many characters. Trudging through the back story of each one is tedious at times, but the character growth makes it worth the effort, though for some characters more than others.
  The author lives in London and the novel is peppered with British words and phrases, which adds to the authenticity given the book's setting but could distract some American readers. Words such as lorry, chap, bloke, snogging, blimey (didn’t think they really said that one) are frequent, but not nearly as frequent as the use of darling, which became a little nauseating after a while.
  Ultimately, the charm of “The Best of Times” lies in the chain reactions that occur after the crash, as if things always happen for a reason, and that much good can come from great tragedy.