Second First Impressions

Sally Thorne’s Second First Impressions uses its retirement village setting to explore the intersection of community, class, and corporate power. The central conflict is driven by the acquisition of Providence Retirement Villa by Prescott Development Corporation (PDC), a firm with a reputation for glamorous “repurposing” (11). This mirrors a real-world trend where private equity firms and large corporations acquire residential and healthcare facilities, often prioritizing profit over the needs of residents. In the United States, this trend has become concerning given the country’s weak public safety net for elder care. Unlike many European nations or Japan, where long-term care is heavily subsidized by the state, American families are often left to shoulder costs privately, relying on a patchwork of Medicare, Medicaid, and expensive out-of-pocket payments. Reports from organizations like the Private Equity Stakeholder Project have detailed how corporate takeovers can lead to cost-cutting and a decline in care, creating the same precarity that haunts Providence when PDC alters all tenancy agreements to expire on a single date. Thorne’s fictional scenario resonates with real debates about the ethics of profit-driven elder care, where efficiency and redevelopment are often pursued at the expense of vulnerable residents.

This corporate threat also heightens the novel’s internal socioeconomic tensions.