{"product_id":"chance-and-necessity","title":"Chance and Necessity","description":"\u003cb\u003eSHORTLISTED - WA PREMIER'S BOOK AWARDS 2026\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eDifferent people, similar situations \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe necessity of finding empathy \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe chance of something better \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIt is the late 1970s in Williams, a wheatbelt town in Western Australia, just south of Narrogin. Maggie Cottonwood, pharmacy assistant, and Leo Braker, bookshop owner, form a hesitant friendship. On making piecemeal revelations-all they can bear to tell-it becomes clear their histories have similar shapes and patterns. Chance played a big role in both their lives, but so did necessity.\u003cbr\u003eWhat went before-in the world, Australia, each of their families, to their previous spouses-shapes how they see themselves. Friends cheer and steer them when conflict divides.\u003cbr\u003eWith wheatbelt isolation and changing times affecting decisions; with river, hills, agricultural plains and tiny communities giving them outlets for emotion, Maggie and Leo draw closer, and their stories start to brighten and merge.\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eChance and Necessity\u003c\/i\u003e focuses on location and ordinary quotidian happenings of small-town Australians, which summon recognition in every reader's mind. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn the style of Elizabeth Strout's \u003ci\u003eOlive Kitteridge\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eOlive Again\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eChance and Necessity\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e focuses on the ordinary quotidian happenings of small-town Australians.","brand":"Independently Published","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45786814283823,"sku":"9798285986799","price":16.39,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0770\/2855\/6847\/files\/imageloader_fa641938-f3e4-4b93-b485-f0b40f76b74f.jpg?v=1786144950","url":"https:\/\/tssbooks.com\/products\/chance-and-necessity","provider":"tssbooks","version":"1.0","type":"link"}