The Second Season - by Emily Adrian (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Ruth Devon starred for Georgetown Basketball back in college--until she injured her knee, married her coach, and found a new career calling games on the radio. Twenty years later, Ruth and her now-ex-husband, Lester, are two of the most famous faces in sports media. When Lester decides to retire from the announcers' booth, Ruth goes after his job. If she gets it, she will be the first woman to call NBA games on national television.

For now, Ruth is reporting from the sideline of the NBA finals, immersed in the high-pressure spectacle of the post-season. But in a deserted locker room at halftime, Ruth makes a discovery that shatters her vision of her future. Instantly, she is torn between the two things she has always wanted most: the game and motherhood.

With warmth and incisive observation, Adrian brings to life the obsessions, emotions, and drama of fandom. The Second Season asks why, how, and whom we watch, while offering a rich and complicated account of motherhood, marriage, and ambition. Adrian's character study of Ruth Devon illuminates a beautiful basketball mind--and the struggle of a woman who claims authority in a male-dominated world.

Review Quotes

Adrian captures the experience of working women with impeccable nuance, touching on topics like imposter syndrome, sexist double standards, and the pressure to be a perfect mother and a successful working woman. Adrian's latest isn't just for basketball lovers; fans of the sport will enjoy the view of an eventful NBA season from the locker rooms and the sidelines, while non-sporty readers will enjoy the complex characters managing very public and sometimes messy lives.

-- "Library Journal"

An ironically funny, high-stakes novel about a woman trying to become the first-ever female announcer in the NBA...With wit and verve, Adrian traces a dilemma familiar to many women: work or parenthood?...Absolutely irresistible, The Second Season is a fast-paced, fascinating character study. Readers of Emily Henry or Taylor Jenkins Reid are sure to love Emily Adrian.

-- "Shelf Awareness"

Coupled with several NBA eye winks, The Second Season weaves an intriguing tale of ambition and family...I found the novel to be immensely readable, keenly accurate in its depiction of life inside the show-business beast, and a frankly welcomed look at this world from a non-male-centered perspective.

-- "The Athletic"

Four years ago, in an essay published right here at The Millions, I asked why there hasn't been a Great American Basketball Novel yet. Well, there is now: The Second Season...Adrian writes with a knowledge and passion for the game, but fandom is not a prerequisite for falling in love with this brilliant, warm, and funny book.

-- "The Millions"

In Emily Adrian's hands, the most exciting story during the NBA Finals is not on the court, but on the sidelines. This book will draw you in right away and you won't put it down until you've read the final sentence.

-- "Tom McAllister, author of How to Be Safe"

Sometimes it is scary reading Emily Adrian because she is honest in a way that hurts. She is brave and she is brutal. You don't have to love basketball or care about motherhood to love this book, but this book will make you fall in love with both. I'm a goner; I will read anything she writes.

-- "Rufi Thorpe, author of The Knockout Queen"

Sport and bodies and ambition, motherhood and womanhood and obsession: Emily Adrian's The Second Season masterfully gets you inside the particular thrill of sport whether it was ever capable of thrilling you before, and, deftly and warmly, pulls off the extraordinary feat of forcing you to root for a complicated, unapologetically ambitious fortysomething woman who also happens to be a mom. I loved this novel for its alacrity and its humanity and its humor, its attention to the body, and its willingness to let its characters pursue impossible-seeming dreams.

-- "Lynn Steger Strong, author of Want"

The spare, bold latest from Adrian follows a sportswriter as she reckons with middle age...Even the sports-averse will be caught up in the drama.

-- "Publishers Weekly"

Those who have been waiting for a sports book with heart will devour the novel. The fresh story is enhanced by Adrian's smooth, absorbing writing. A perfect pick for book clubs.

-- "Booklist"

To borrow a sports idiom, Emily Adrian really stuffs the stat sheet here. She writes as engagingly and insightfully about basketball and broadcasting as she does about work, love, friendship, ambition, motherhood, aging, and the power and frailty of the body. Smart, tough, passionate Ruth Devon is a winning protagonist, and her poignant story is both suspenseful and meditative. The Second Season is a terrific sports novel, yes, but it's also just a terrific novel.

-- "Chris Bachelder, author of The Throwback Special"

Women with ambition, especially in sports, are often told: 'Be quiet. Shrink. Don't dream too big.' Emily Adrian's The Second Season squashes any notion of that. It shines in its portrayal of a woman protagonist who will not dim her light. This book is brilliant, engrossing and should be read by every person, basketball fan or not. My only wish is that Adrian had written this when I was a young girl, because it would have made me feel seen, encouraged, and understood.

-- "Mirin Fader, staff writer for The Ringer and author of Giannis: The Improbable Rise of an NBA MVP"