The Second Awakening
Language: English
Published by Bianca de Koning Smuts, 2025
- Softcover
- New
Seller: PBShop.store US, Wood Dale, IL, U.S.A.PBShop.store US
AbeBooks seller since April 7, 2005
Condition: New
£ 14.14
Quantity: Over 20 available
Add to basketItem description from seller
New Book. Shipped from UK. Established seller since 2000.
Seller Inventory # L2-9798232504298
- Title
- The Second Awakening
- Author
- Smuts, Bianca De Koning
- Publisher
- Bianca de Koning Smuts
- Publication year
- 2025
- Condition
- New
- Binding
- PAP
- Language
- English
- ISBN 13
- 9798232504298
- Item weight
- 150 grams
The story follows Elara, a highly optimized, successful Corporate VP whose life is run by the rigid "6:30 Protocol" of efficiency and safety. She lives a life of profound emotional numbness, a state she calls "being alive," shared with her equally optimized partner, Mark. The system begins to crash when a minor disruption-missing a train-leads her to meet Gabe, an eccentric artist and philosophical mentor who introduces her to the value of friction and the beautiful uselessness of a magenta rock.
Elara sacrifices her entire life of safety to embrace this chaos: she speaks the "reckless truth" to her boss, Richard, and ends her relationship with Mark, viewing their optimized life as a "cage." She relocates to the imperfect, vibrant town of Willow Creek, where Gabe assigns her an "Unwritten Curriculum" of simple, inefficient tasks (cook, clean, walk) designed to force her to connect with the present moment.
Using her former analytical skills for human systems rather than profit, she becomes The Permanent Cartographer, auditing small businesses (like the Antique Emporium and Rory's Auto Repair) to inject necessary friction and eliminate their Trust Deficit-proving that Return on Connection (ROC) is the only metric that matters.
The climax arrives when Richard offers Elara a seven-figure contract to "optimize her rebellion" and keynote the annual Veridian Summit. Elara rejects the money and uses the platform for her "Uninvited Keynote," publicly declaring that "the flow must fail" and that the corporate pursuit of efficiency results in "Flow Poisoning."
In the resolution, Elara fully commits to an unmeasurable life. She returns to the city to establish her stall near the corporate towers, selling Antidote Kits to people trapped in the system. She confirms her ultimate truth: "Being Alive is flow; Living Life is friction," and finds fulfilment not in stopping the machine, but in providing the exit ramps for others, including her former colleague, Alex.
"Synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
About the Author
The author, Bianca Smuts (de Koning), lives and writes from the heart of the Eastern Cape, South Africa, where her life is deeply rooted in the soil of Humansdorp and the surrounding farm communities where she grew up. Her deep connection to the South African community often inspires the themes of resilience and belonging found in her writing.
A full-time accountant by trade, she dedicates her creative energy to exploring the universal themes closest to her heart: the unwavering power of friendship, the profound necessity of faith, and the quiet strength of courage.
She shares her life with her beloved husband, Bennie Smuts, and their three beautiful daughters (while always honoring the memory of their angel daughter). The family is active in the Dutch Reformed Church in the Loerie Community.
When she's not balancing ledgers or crafting emotionally resonant novels, you can find this proud farm girl indulging in the simple, joyful things: perhaps playing in the rain and mud with her children, or gathering friends and family around a perfect South African braai.
"About the title" may belong to another edition of this title.
PBShop.store US
Wood Dale, IL, U.S.A.
AbeBooks seller since April 7, 2005
Shipping rates within U.S.A.
| Item | 7 to 14 business days | 7 to 14 business days |
|---|---|---|
| First item | £ 0.00 | £ 0.00 |
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We first started out as “The Paperback Exchange,” a chain of physical bookstores where we would part exchange your beloved books for new stories to transport you to faraway places. However, as shopping started to evolve to online shops and marketplaces, we bid our stores goodbye to become “PBShop.” This transition has only allowed us to blossom as we now ship thousands of titles to book lovers across the globe. We pride ourselves in being a community of local book lovers which allows our passion and devotion to shine in everything we do. In 2020 we not only celebrated our 20th birthday but our 1st birthday as being completely employee owned after becoming an E.O.T in September 2019. We are proud to be different and embrace standing apart on a book mountain by working from a virtual inventory which allows us to provide thousands of books that may be difficult to get for your bookshelf or your studies. Working with a number of different suppliers allows us to explore other avenues such as puzzles, sheet music and even stationery so we really do have something for everyone. Life is about being versatile in all realms of existence. If this is your first visit or you are a returning customer, we would like to welcome you to the PBShop family, for there is no friend as loyal as a book. We are a company who put our customers at the centre of everything we do as we understand the importance of reading because once you learn to read, you will forever be free. There are a whole lot of things in this world of ours that we are yet to explore, which is why we will forever inspire curious minds.…
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Hardbacks, PaperbacksSeller's business information
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