Mother to six-year-old twins, sidelined at family gatherings by Nathan's hostile family, ostracized by his friends, Minty is haunted by the shadow of the glowing, successful Rose — Nathan's first wife. 'The trouble is, ' she concludes, 'everything I do is second-hand, ' Yet — such is the curious nature of fate ~ Minty finds herself united in loss with an unexpected ally — the woman she once betrayed.

Buchan's signature gift for capturing "women's daily joys and struggles is beautifully deployed in The Second Wife — an irresistible story of love, grief and renewal that explores the nature of friendship and the bonds that grow strongest when stretched to breaking.

'Enthralling, sophisticated storytelling' — Women and Home

'Buchan is a cut above the rest in this field' — Sunday Times

Emma Fielding has acted on many prestigious stages, including the National Theatre and the Almeida Theatre. She has appeared frequently with the RSC and received the Dame Peggy Ashcroft Award for Best Actress for Twelfth Night and Broken Heart . In film she appeared in Pandaemonium and Scarlet Tunic . Her television work includes Other People's Children, Waking the Dead and Green Eyed Monster all for the BBC, and more recently, Beneath the Skin and Ghost Squad . She won the Carleton Hobbs Bursary Award for BBC Radio in 1991.