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The Second Story: When the Life You Built No Longer Feels Like Enough
If you’ve ever woken up in the middle of the night and wondered,
“Is this all there is?”—you’re not alone.
At sixty-one, Shari Caudron has everything she’s worked for: a meaningful career, a loving marriage, a home in the foothills of Colorado. But beneath the surface, something is missing. The harder she tries to fill the void, the further she drifts from herself. When a personal growth workshop cracks something open, she can no longer outrun the truth: the life she spent decades creating no longer feels like her own.
The Second Story is an honest, often wry account of what happens when the strategies that once helped us succeed—proving, pleasing, performing—stop working. What begins as a search for how to age well becomes a deeper exploration of how to live well.
More than a midlife memoir, The Second Story is a companion for anyone who has ever felt lost inside a life that looks fine from the outside. It’s a story about letting go of the narratives that shaped us so we can finally stop performing and start living.
“Is this all there is?”—you’re not alone.
At sixty-one, Shari Caudron has everything she’s worked for: a meaningful career, a loving marriage, a home in the foothills of Colorado. But beneath the surface, something is missing. The harder she tries to fill the void, the further she drifts from herself. When a personal growth workshop cracks something open, she can no longer outrun the truth: the life she spent decades creating no longer feels like her own.
The Second Story is an honest, often wry account of what happens when the strategies that once helped us succeed—proving, pleasing, performing—stop working. What begins as a search for how to age well becomes a deeper exploration of how to live well.
More than a midlife memoir, The Second Story is a companion for anyone who has ever felt lost inside a life that looks fine from the outside. It’s a story about letting go of the narratives that shaped us so we can finally stop performing and start living.
237 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 22, 2026
About the author
Shari Caudron
4 books7 followersShari Caudron is an award-winning journalist and the author of The Second Story, Who Are You People?, and What Really Happened. After years of writing for national magazines, she went on to help others tell their stories as a memoir coach and university professor. She lives in Boulder, Colorado.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
A Brave, Intimate, and Deeply Relatable Read
A lifelong seeker and doer, Shari Caudron emerged from the pandemic unscathed and aware of her blessings. She’d spent years as a successful journalist and writer, launched and grown a rewarding business helping people find, frame, and scribe their life stories. She’d unexpectedly met and married the love of her life and lived happily ever after in Boulder, Colorado, in a lovely home complete with a picture-perfect view of the Flatirons. Still, as she entered her 60s, a familiar restlessness, this time of unfamiliar origin, stirred within. Even though she had checked all the boxes on her list of goals, an inner longing for meaning persisted. What did she still need to experience, unearth? And why wasn’t having fulfilled the dreams of her younger selves enough?
In a warm, deeply honest voice punctuated by refreshing sparks of dry humor, Caudron invites readers to join her as she launches an expedition into the unknown, driven to answer these questions by striving, doing, and learning — the way she always has . But when another self-help retreat illuminates emotional armor, she never knew she had, the real work begins. She eventually enters treatment with a psychedelics-assisted therapist that reveals terrified aspects of her long-neglected childhood self, long stranded in the past and awaiting present healing.
As a fellow writer and kindred seeker and doer, I found “The Second Story” a brave, intimate, and deeply relatable read. It kept me eagerly engaged as Caudron searches for answers in unlikely places, confronts hard family truths, heartbreaking losses, and the brutal specter of mortality that can emerge at any moment and becomes impossible to deny in later life. Her willingness to explore and transcend, her darkest shadows surprisingly also leads her back to writing itself, another lifelong love she thought she had lost. I’m so grateful to Caudron for inspiring me to continue finding my way back, too!
Susan Dugan, author of the short story collection “Safe Haven” and "Extraordinary Ordinary Forgiveness.”
A lifelong seeker and doer, Shari Caudron emerged from the pandemic unscathed and aware of her blessings. She’d spent years as a successful journalist and writer, launched and grown a rewarding business helping people find, frame, and scribe their life stories. She’d unexpectedly met and married the love of her life and lived happily ever after in Boulder, Colorado, in a lovely home complete with a picture-perfect view of the Flatirons. Still, as she entered her 60s, a familiar restlessness, this time of unfamiliar origin, stirred within. Even though she had checked all the boxes on her list of goals, an inner longing for meaning persisted. What did she still need to experience, unearth? And why wasn’t having fulfilled the dreams of her younger selves enough?
In a warm, deeply honest voice punctuated by refreshing sparks of dry humor, Caudron invites readers to join her as she launches an expedition into the unknown, driven to answer these questions by striving, doing, and learning — the way she always has . But when another self-help retreat illuminates emotional armor, she never knew she had, the real work begins. She eventually enters treatment with a psychedelics-assisted therapist that reveals terrified aspects of her long-neglected childhood self, long stranded in the past and awaiting present healing.
As a fellow writer and kindred seeker and doer, I found “The Second Story” a brave, intimate, and deeply relatable read. It kept me eagerly engaged as Caudron searches for answers in unlikely places, confronts hard family truths, heartbreaking losses, and the brutal specter of mortality that can emerge at any moment and becomes impossible to deny in later life. Her willingness to explore and transcend, her darkest shadows surprisingly also leads her back to writing itself, another lifelong love she thought she had lost. I’m so grateful to Caudron for inspiring me to continue finding my way back, too!
Susan Dugan, author of the short story collection “Safe Haven” and "Extraordinary Ordinary Forgiveness.”
Review of advance copy received from Author
It’s not often that I find a memoir to be a page-turner, but The Second Story was that for me. After working years to achieve career success and build a life she loved, Shari Caudron found herself still searching for a missing piece she couldn’t name. Was it the need for new creative passions, more self-improvement seminars, a larger life purpose or something else altogether? Beautifully written with humor, wisdom and vivid storytelling, Caudron takes readers on a highly relatable journey to uncover the answers which, it turns out, she’d been holding deeply within all along.
Review of advance copy received from Author
I found The Second Story wise, moving, and deeply relatable. Shari Caudron writes with an unusual combination of candor, wit, and tenderness, inviting us to see not only what she discovers about herself but also the defenses and self-deceptions she must confront along the way.
What stayed with me most was the memoir’s central paradox: Shari tries to achieve her way into authenticity. The determination and competence that helped her build a successful life have also become a kind of armor, shielding her from the vulnerability necessary for genuine intimacy.
I admired her willingness to reveal the less flattering parts of herself—the need to impress, the fear of being ordinary, and the habit of concealing vulnerability behind competence. Her honesty made me trust her and, more importantly, prompted me to examine some of my own protective habits.
Caudron also moves beautifully between humor and grief. I laughed out loud as she made her way to her first singing lesson, grieved with her through devastating family losses, and felt her humiliation when an seminar instructor told her, “It’s OK to drop your guard. You don’t need it anymore.”
This is not a dramatic tale of abandoning one life to create another. It is something subtler and, to me, more meaningful: a story about relinquishing the personas that once protected us but eventually keep us from being fully known.
I highly recommend The Second Story to anyone questioning whether the life they worked hard to build still reflects the person they have become.
What stayed with me most was the memoir’s central paradox: Shari tries to achieve her way into authenticity. The determination and competence that helped her build a successful life have also become a kind of armor, shielding her from the vulnerability necessary for genuine intimacy.
I admired her willingness to reveal the less flattering parts of herself—the need to impress, the fear of being ordinary, and the habit of concealing vulnerability behind competence. Her honesty made me trust her and, more importantly, prompted me to examine some of my own protective habits.
Caudron also moves beautifully between humor and grief. I laughed out loud as she made her way to her first singing lesson, grieved with her through devastating family losses, and felt her humiliation when an seminar instructor told her, “It’s OK to drop your guard. You don’t need it anymore.”
This is not a dramatic tale of abandoning one life to create another. It is something subtler and, to me, more meaningful: a story about relinquishing the personas that once protected us but eventually keep us from being fully known.
I highly recommend The Second Story to anyone questioning whether the life they worked hard to build still reflects the person they have become.
Review of advance copy received from Author
A Fiercely Honest Journey to Self-Acceptance
From the very first page, this memoir proves to be as captivating as it is deeply inspiring. It is the kind of book that invites immediate self-reflection: Emotionally impactful, genuinely pleasant to read, and so thoroughly engaging that I finished it in just a few days. Even while navigating heavy, difficult terrain, the narrative never drags you into sadness; instead, it remains buoyant, infused with a warm, refreshing humor that leaves you feeling remarkably good.
At its core, the memoir follows the author, Shari, through the quiet weight of growing up with the persistent feeling of never being enough. What follows is a moving setup and journey of overcoming adversity to discover genuine purpose, joy, and peace. Rather than offering a neat, cookie-cutter solution, Shari details her trial of surprising methods, varied experiences, and unexpected paths, proving that the road to wellness is rarely linear.
What makes this book extraordinary is Shari’s unvarnished voice. Writing with candid, fierce honesty, she treats the reader like an intimate confidant. It is clear that her primary goal was to help others rather than shield herself from potential judgment; by exposing her vulnerabilities so fully, she creates a safe space for the reader. She normalizes the messy, unpredictable nature of self-discovery, showing that finding one's path requires patience, determination, and the willingness to learn from every connection and detour along the way. In her hands, life’s chaotic experiences are gradually pieced together like a puzzle, ultimately revealing a unique and beautiful work of art.
Ultimately, this is a universal story about resilience, self-discovery, and the hard-won peace that comes with radical self-acceptance.
Recommendation: Highly recommended for anyone on a journey of self-growth, personal understanding, or seeking the inspiration to overcome life’s hurdles with grace and courage.
From the very first page, this memoir proves to be as captivating as it is deeply inspiring. It is the kind of book that invites immediate self-reflection: Emotionally impactful, genuinely pleasant to read, and so thoroughly engaging that I finished it in just a few days. Even while navigating heavy, difficult terrain, the narrative never drags you into sadness; instead, it remains buoyant, infused with a warm, refreshing humor that leaves you feeling remarkably good.
At its core, the memoir follows the author, Shari, through the quiet weight of growing up with the persistent feeling of never being enough. What follows is a moving setup and journey of overcoming adversity to discover genuine purpose, joy, and peace. Rather than offering a neat, cookie-cutter solution, Shari details her trial of surprising methods, varied experiences, and unexpected paths, proving that the road to wellness is rarely linear.
What makes this book extraordinary is Shari’s unvarnished voice. Writing with candid, fierce honesty, she treats the reader like an intimate confidant. It is clear that her primary goal was to help others rather than shield herself from potential judgment; by exposing her vulnerabilities so fully, she creates a safe space for the reader. She normalizes the messy, unpredictable nature of self-discovery, showing that finding one's path requires patience, determination, and the willingness to learn from every connection and detour along the way. In her hands, life’s chaotic experiences are gradually pieced together like a puzzle, ultimately revealing a unique and beautiful work of art.
Ultimately, this is a universal story about resilience, self-discovery, and the hard-won peace that comes with radical self-acceptance.
Recommendation: Highly recommended for anyone on a journey of self-growth, personal understanding, or seeking the inspiration to overcome life’s hurdles with grace and courage.
September 18, 2026
In this beautifully written, raw, honest, and often witty memoir, Shari Caudron looks back on the experiences and beliefs that shaped her life and asks why, in her early sixties—despite a successful career, beautiful home, and loving marriage—she was still aching for something she couldn’t name.
Determined to understand that longing, Shari follows it down unexpected and sometimes humorous paths, venturing into increasingly vulnerable territory as she uncovers what has kept her from feeling fully at home in her own skin.
I laughed, I cried, and I recognized many of my own questions and longings in these pages. Shari’s thoughtful and wise reflections on the long-held stories she’d come to believe about herself will encourage you to examine your own—especially those that keep you stuck and prevent you from living authentically and fully.
Through her candor, Shari shows us that vulnerability, however terrifying it may feel, is an essential gateway to self-acceptance, deeper connection with ourselves and others, and true, lasting joy.
Reading The Second Story will inspire you to embrace every aspect of your humanness and honor the inherent beauty of who you are.
Determined to understand that longing, Shari follows it down unexpected and sometimes humorous paths, venturing into increasingly vulnerable territory as she uncovers what has kept her from feeling fully at home in her own skin.
I laughed, I cried, and I recognized many of my own questions and longings in these pages. Shari’s thoughtful and wise reflections on the long-held stories she’d come to believe about herself will encourage you to examine your own—especially those that keep you stuck and prevent you from living authentically and fully.
Through her candor, Shari shows us that vulnerability, however terrifying it may feel, is an essential gateway to self-acceptance, deeper connection with ourselves and others, and true, lasting joy.
Reading The Second Story will inspire you to embrace every aspect of your humanness and honor the inherent beauty of who you are.
September 23, 2026
Pema Chodron talks about how self improvement can be a kind of aggression toward the self--and this memoir dug into why. If we keep thinking we ARE a problem, we are never in a mode of self-acceptance or self-love.
Caudron shares stories from her life that are deeply vulnerable, especially around a lack of self-worth--and how she crawled out of a pit of shame to love the little scared girl inside herself. She also comes to understand that what she saw as a flaw was actually a coping device.
Caudron shares stories from her life that are deeply vulnerable, especially around a lack of self-worth--and how she crawled out of a pit of shame to love the little scared girl inside herself. She also comes to understand that what she saw as a flaw was actually a coping device.
September 23, 2026
The Second Story is a delight! From the first sentence it is an engaging, relatable and effortless read. Shari Caudron skillfully crafts a universal story of awareness and growth with humor and charm. The challenges Shari Caudron wrestles with—the passage of time, finding purpose and meaning, confronting habits and beliefs that sabotage happiness—felt especially relatable. It’s honest, funny, thoughtful, and moving while being free of platitudes and cliché. Read it!
Review of advance copy received from Author
A great read for anyone who has found themselves wondering what comes next, especially after reaching that place in life we once dreamed of being--only to discover we’re still searching for meaning and purpose and even self-acceptance.
Shari Caudron’s vulnerability and easy-to-read style drew me in from the beginning. I found myself cheering for her as she navigated her own questions about herself and about life, while also pausing to ponder my own journey along the way.
Thought-provoking, relatable and ultimately hopeful.
Shari Caudron’s vulnerability and easy-to-read style drew me in from the beginning. I found myself cheering for her as she navigated her own questions about herself and about life, while also pausing to ponder my own journey along the way.
Thought-provoking, relatable and ultimately hopeful.
Review of advance copy
The Second Story is an honest and deeply relatable exploration of what happens when a life that appears successful from the outside no longer feels fulfilling on the inside.
Shari Caudron takes readers into a stage of life that is rarely discussed with this level of candor: the realization that the strategies that once created security and success proving, pleasing, and performing may eventually become the very things that prevent us from living authentically.
What makes the book particularly compelling is its central question: what happens when the life we worked so hard to build is no longer the life we truly want? Rather than presenting aging simply as something to manage, The Second Story reframes it as an opportunity to reconsider identity, purpose, fulfillment, and the stories we have carried for decades.
The combination of personal reflection, vulnerability, and wry honesty gives the book an approachable quality while addressing questions that extend well beyond one person's experience.
For readers navigating midlife transitions, personal reinvention, aging, purpose, self discovery, and the desire to live more authentically, The Second Story offers a thoughtful and encouraging invitation to stop performing and begin creating a life that genuinely feels like one's own.
Shari Caudron takes readers into a stage of life that is rarely discussed with this level of candor: the realization that the strategies that once created security and success proving, pleasing, and performing may eventually become the very things that prevent us from living authentically.
What makes the book particularly compelling is its central question: what happens when the life we worked so hard to build is no longer the life we truly want? Rather than presenting aging simply as something to manage, The Second Story reframes it as an opportunity to reconsider identity, purpose, fulfillment, and the stories we have carried for decades.
The combination of personal reflection, vulnerability, and wry honesty gives the book an approachable quality while addressing questions that extend well beyond one person's experience.
For readers navigating midlife transitions, personal reinvention, aging, purpose, self discovery, and the desire to live more authentically, The Second Story offers a thoughtful and encouraging invitation to stop performing and begin creating a life that genuinely feels like one's own.
Review of advance copy received from Author
It’s no surprise that book-coach extraordinaire Shari Caudron has written her own memoir The Second Story. What is surprising is that in a crowded field of books on aging she finds a fresh new approach to the subject of growing older. Caudron brings a rare transparency to the page as she grapples with her own aging experience and tackles the question: what is the path to a fulfilled life?
As she follows clues to personal growth, she leaves breadcrumbs for readers, sharing her vulnerabilities along the way from considering parrot adoption to life enriching experiences with MDMA. This deeply human book made me laugh, cry, smile, and think. Ultimately, although we may occupy different places on life’s path, we are all on the journey. Instead of approaching it like a race, Caudron discovers peace and contentment by approaching it like a meaningful walk in the woods.
Darla Worden, author of Cockeyed Happy, Ernest Hemingway's Wyoming Summers with Pauline
As she follows clues to personal growth, she leaves breadcrumbs for readers, sharing her vulnerabilities along the way from considering parrot adoption to life enriching experiences with MDMA. This deeply human book made me laugh, cry, smile, and think. Ultimately, although we may occupy different places on life’s path, we are all on the journey. Instead of approaching it like a race, Caudron discovers peace and contentment by approaching it like a meaningful walk in the woods.
Darla Worden, author of Cockeyed Happy, Ernest Hemingway's Wyoming Summers with Pauline
Review of advance copy
I received a copy of this book via BookSirens. What follows is my opinion.
I chose this book because I, too, am in the latter part of life. I was hoping for something relatable, as well as something that might provide new perspectives. That's not what I found. This wasn't relatable to me, at all. What I learned was that I should not have chosen to read this book. That was my mistake.
I can't comment on the author's experience. We're all on different journeys, and we all handle life's challenges differently. With that said, I struggled to get through this book. It didn't grab my attention. I was bored. I didn't learn anything new. There were no new insights, no new perspectives, nothing to latch onto or to learn. Also, I found it to be extremely unrelatable.
I chose this book because I, too, am in the latter part of life. I was hoping for something relatable, as well as something that might provide new perspectives. That's not what I found. This wasn't relatable to me, at all. What I learned was that I should not have chosen to read this book. That was my mistake.
I can't comment on the author's experience. We're all on different journeys, and we all handle life's challenges differently. With that said, I struggled to get through this book. It didn't grab my attention. I was bored. I didn't learn anything new. There were no new insights, no new perspectives, nothing to latch onto or to learn. Also, I found it to be extremely unrelatable.
October 1, 2026
A uniquely unique memoir
Shari Caudron's beautifully written (understatement) story - The Second Story - has to be the most introspective I've ever read. Her brave, highly analytic, multi-faceted journey, step by step, is not only fascinating but inspiring to read. The book is a unique gift, not only to memoir purists, but to all those readers on a quest for the joys of Self: to improve self-understanding and to be self-accepting, even satisfied with who we are at any time in our complicated existence. I now look forward to The Third Story!
Shari Caudron's beautifully written (understatement) story - The Second Story - has to be the most introspective I've ever read. Her brave, highly analytic, multi-faceted journey, step by step, is not only fascinating but inspiring to read. The book is a unique gift, not only to memoir purists, but to all those readers on a quest for the joys of Self: to improve self-understanding and to be self-accepting, even satisfied with who we are at any time in our complicated existence. I now look forward to The Third Story!
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
My kind of memoir! A beautifully written exploration of life dissatisfaction at age 60, despite achieving all long-sought dreams, then finding something fundamental missing: Living authentically, and the quest to redress that. Poignant, funny, inspiring, and highly recommended.
October 4, 2026
Shari has written a gorgeous book that resonated deeply for me. Her vulnerability on the page made me experience her journey right alongside her and stirred a lot of truths from my own life. I highly recommend this book.
October 1, 2026
It was interesting to follow the author's journey of self-discovery and see where it led. A thoughtful and honest read.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the advance review copy.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the advance review copy.
Review of advance copy received from Author
Two books in one.
A thoughtful and interesting memoir that kept me turning pages past my bedtime. And, a valuable life lesson in how we perceive ourselves and how we think others perceive us. Read it for the enjoyment. Read it for insight on how to love, embrace and genuinely accept who you are.
A thoughtful and interesting memoir that kept me turning pages past my bedtime. And, a valuable life lesson in how we perceive ourselves and how we think others perceive us. Read it for the enjoyment. Read it for insight on how to love, embrace and genuinely accept who you are.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews