The Second

Alan J Cooper considers our nature and culture by looking at power and conflict in people’s actions, and, through his erudite interpretation of emotional and intellectual tensions in society, he explores the nature of “belief”… By way of the book’s diary-style entries we follow the protagonist, a vibrant French Canadian, Chantelle, who promotes a spirituality based on principles and not traditional dogma.

Embracing her activism she moves across the U.S. and Canada engaging the complex ideologies that shape politics, religion, and spirituality, while balancing her rocky romance with an aspiring half-Jewish architect, and a connection to a New York organization with a hate-based agenda kept secret from her. But while Chantelle’s spirituality roots her beliefs, we see the “religious” more frequently lean toward evil over good… The Second is a work of profound and moving secular spirituality that touches on all the markers of religion, a modern-day American Gothic in which the novel’s characters ultimately confront their individual identities through the realization of just how hard it is to make belief believable.

Alan J Cooper of Toronto embarked on a writing career after being struck by an impaired driver and incurring a severe brain injury. His articles on spiritual issues have appeared in Canadian journals, as well as Toronto’s national newspaper the Globe and Mail. His first book, Brain Injury, was released to great acclaim in 2006. Mr. Cooper holds five degrees from the University of Toronto, including a Master of Religious Education and a Master of Education.