Second Best

How would it feel to be forever confronted with a life you never got to live?

Martin Hill is a ten-year-old boy like any other. Until the day fate throws him in the path of David Heyman, a film producer looking for the star of his latest adaptation: Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.

Martin finds himself down to the final two for the titular role, but is pipped to the post by Daniel Radcliffe. In the words of the casting director, Radcliffe had that ‘little something extra’ – a phrase that will haunt Martin for years to come.

Devastated, he tries to move on with his life. But how can he escape the spectre of the most famous film series in the world?

Foenkinos’ smash-hit Second Best is a playful, poignant story about fate, overcoming failure, and how the lives we wish we had led might not be all they’re cracked up to be…

Praise for David Foenkinos:

‘Light, funny and erudite: a delight’ – The Guardian

‘Charming, clever’ – The Independent

‘A completely delightful jeu d’esprit’ – Daily Mail

‘Unputdownable … Immensely likeable, unexpectedly compelling and moving’ – Irish Times

‘A wonderful surprise… a serious author who doesn’t take himself seriously’ – L’Express

‘Abounds with Gallic wit and charm’ – Waterstones