Get ready for a flood of emotion: The Love Story of Missy Carmichael will surely move you to tears and leave its mark on readers for a lifetime.


The Love Story of Missy Carmichael 
by Beth Morrey

For readers of Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine and A Man Called Ove, a life-affirming, deeply moving "coming-of-old" story, a celebration of how ordinary days are made extraordinary through friendship, family, and the power of forgiving yourself--at any age.

Boy meets girl. Girl meets boy. Woman meets dog...

The world has changed around Missy Carmichael. At seventy-nine, she's estranged from her daughter, her son and only grandson live across the world in Australia, and her great love is gone. Missy spends her days with a sip of sherry, scrubbing the kitchen in her big empty house and reliving her past--though it's her mistakes, and secrets, that she allows to shine brightest. The last thing Missy expects is for two perfect strangers and one spirited dog to break through her prickly exterior and show Missy just how much love she still has to give. Filled with wry laughter and deep insights into the stories we tell ourselves, The Love Story of Missy Carmichael shows us it's never too late to teach an old dog new tricks. It's never too late to love.



If you love emotional, thoughtful reads that are destined to leave you feeling the very beat of their heart and soul for days after you finish reading them then The Love Story of Missy Carmichael is for you. My eyes are rather watery even looking back on my notes. Really. I'd be embarrassed if I had any shame. 

Alas, I'm fairly content in embracing my inner babbling and emotional mess. Thank your lucky stars you are not my dogs, who are both presently judging me for getting emotional. But, what can I say? Beth Morrey is a professional at coaxing out emotions from her readers based on the sentiment of The Love Story of Missy Carmichael alone. I'm excited to hear more from her in the future and am hopeful that any other releases will come with a complimentary tissue box.

What? You're looking at me like that's too much to ask. Pft. Actually, bad joke, given the fact that I can barely find any freaking tissues or paper at the stores right now. Good timing, Jessica. You're definitely killing it. Get back on track! 

Despite comparisons to other novels that wear their hearts on their sleeves, The Love Story of Missy Carmichael doesn't quite fit the mold of its contemporaries. Undeniably, this is a story all its own and certainly deserves to be categorized as such. Then again, I've not read the novels that it's presently being compared to. 

Still, I like to think that The Love Story of Missy Carmichael is truly one-of-a-kind. Call me an optimist, but there's something so hopeful within this story. While some stories suffer from timeline jumping, this is what makes The Love Story of Missy Carmichael work so beautifully. Not only is Morrey's writing stunning and intensely heartfelt, almost always playing on just the right aches, the story benefits from going between the past and the present. It makes the pacing feel like a breeze and shows readers a great contrast between then vs. now.

Ultimately, The Love Story of Missy Carmichael is deeply moving and a truly heartfelt debut novel from Beth Morrey.