Half a Chance is written by an American author and playwright Frederic Stewart Isham and published in 1909. This novel is a fast and enjoyable story with not too much reality in it which well compiles the general theme of Isham's work. It relates with the age-old question of nature vs nature; that given 'half a chance' a person, of whatever line, can be a noble, ethical human being and, on the other side, a gentleman of high birth can be a complete rascal. In this story Frisco Pet, an ex-prize fighter, is plaintiff of the murder of a woman of the underworld because he is spotted in her room in a drunken condition, alone with her body. In actuality Lord Ronsdale, a nobleman, had come to break with this woman, who, in a effort to blackmail him, took out a revolver which by accident went off. Frisco Pet is sent to the territories in a convict ship on which Lord Ronsdale also starts with Lord and Lady Wray and their six year old niece Jocelyn. A storm comes up but all the characters are saved and after many years there is much drama in this story and after that Wrays consent to Jocelyn's engagement with John Steele.
An American novelist and playwright Frederic S. Isham was born on 29 March 1865 in Detroit, Michigan. His parents were Charles Storrs Isham and Lucy B. Isham. He had keen interest in plays, so he started his career as a playwright. For two years, he studied at Royal Academy of Music in London. He was fond of writing on historical romances and adventure. Thus, he began novel writing. In his first novel The Strollers, he wrote his theatre experiences. In Black Friday, he depicts American financial crisis of 1869. In his novel, Under the Rose he has given a view of 16th century Europe. Popularity of Isham's novels can be seen in movies also. Films are made on the novels like - Three Live Ghosts, Nothing But the Truth, The Social Buccaneer etc. Some other notable works- Black Friday, Half a Chance, The Nut Cracker, The Way Out, The Lady of the Mount etc. He died in New York on 6 September 1922.
