Maggsie McNaughton's Second Chance is, appropriately enough, Frances Maynard's second novel. Her first, The Seven Imperfect Rules of Elvira Carr, was runner-up in the Good Housekeeping 2014 First Novel Award and the 2018 McKitterick Prize, and shortlisted for both the 2016 Mslexia First Novel Competition and the Lucy Cavendish Prize. She teaches English, part-time, to adults with learning difficulties, including Dyslexia, and is married with one grown-up daughter. She lives in Dorset.