The Love Story of Missy Carmichael, Beth Morrey
The Love Story of Missy Carmichael, Beth Morrey
5 Rating(s)
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On Sale: $5.99

The Love Story of Missy Carmichael

Author: Beth Morrey

Narrator: Harriet Walter

Unabridged: 9 hr 54 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Penguin Audio

Published: 04/07/2020


Synopsis

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.

"At a time when people are having to isolate, [this novel is] a balm, offering an expansive sense of love and possibility at a time when the main characters feel like those chances are gone." --Christian Science Monitor

The world has changed around seventy-nine-year-old librarian Millicent Carmichael, aka Missy. Though quick to admit that she often found her roles as a housewife and mother less than satisfying, Missy once led a bustling life driven by two children, an accomplished and celebrated husband, and a Classics degree from Cambridge. Now her husband is gone, her daughter is estranged after a shattering argument, and her son has moved to his wife's native Australia, taking Missy's beloved only grandchild half-a-world away. She spends her days sipping sherry, avoiding people, and rattling around in her oversized, under-decorated house waiting for...what exactly?

The last thing Missy expects is for two perfect strangers and one spirited dog named Bob to break through her prickly exterior and show Missy just how much love she still has to give. In short order, Missy finds herself in the jarring embrace of an eclectic community that simply won't take no for an answer--including a rambunctious mutt-on-loan whose unconditional love gives Missy a reason to re-enter the world one muddy paw print at a time.

Filled with wry laughter and deep insights, The Love Story of Missy Carmichael is a coming-of-old story that shows us it's never too late to forgive yourself and, just as important, it's never too late to love.

About The Author

Beth Morrey's work has been published in The May Anthology of Oxford and Cambridge Poetry and shortlisted for the Grazia Orange First Chapter competition. She lives in London with her family and dog. The Love Story of Missy Carmichael is her debut novel.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Nilufer

Boo hoo, waahhh… Boo hoo, argghhkk! Somebody sledgehammered my heart, broke into tiny particles and buried into ground! I’m in deep pain and whining, crying like a baby! And I’m in the mall now! Everybody’s looking for me. I know you will ask me why the hell I read the final chapters of the book in......more

For some reason I kept pushing this off to the side, and even thought of the potential for not giving feedback. My word... I don't know what I was thinking because this beautifully crafted story over achieved any expectation I had for it! Millicent (Missy) Carmichael is 79 years old. She lives by her......more

3★ “And it was still hard, being in the park, without remembering Leo. He was a great believer in a constitutional; enjoyed belittling self-important joggers and jovially berating cyclists.” Millicent Carmichael is a lonely old lady who’s been feeling sorry for herself and sticking pretty much to her......more

Goodreads review by Neale

Missy opens her morning paper and immediately flips to the obituaries. David Bowie has died. “At my age, reading obituaries is a generational hazard, contemporaries dropping off, one by one; each announcement an empty chamber in my own little revolver. For a while I tried to turn a blind eye, as if i......more


Quotes

Winner of the Bronze Award for the NY Radio Awards
One of the Observer’s 10 Best Debut Novelists of 2020
One of Read It Forward’s Most Anticipated Books of 2020
One of Bustle’s Most Anticipated Books of April 2020
One of Christian Science Monitor’s Best Books of April 2020
 
“The success of Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine has blazed a trail for books about offbeat characters, and this is one of the best I’ve read…A joyful read about the power of people in saving each other.”Good Housekeeping
 
“A charming story about the way that connecting with others can heal a broken spirit…Fans of Fredrik Backman and Rachel Joyce will enjoy this uplifting (but never saccharine) “coming of old” story.” Library Journal (starred review)
 
“Morrey has deftly created a series of love stories, interwoven together and told in snippets through time…Pain, grief, and hurt are all part of life in this moving portrayal of the many forms love can take.”Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
 
“Heartwarming, poignant and raw, The Love Story of Missy Carmichael is the perfect book for anyone ready for a change, for hope, or for a solid love story rooted in something more.” —BookReporter.com
 
“A generous-hearted story showing the transformative power of friendship and community, whatever our time of life. Morrey writes about loneliness and old age with a wonderful lightness of touch…A fabulously enjoyable book!” —Sarah Haywood, author of The Cactus
 
“Here is a love story of the most important kind: that of coming to love oneself through accepting and returning the love of others—be it people or dogs. I truly enjoyed reading this story of a big-hearted but embittered woman who turns her life around, two steps forward and one step back, which is to say realistically. . . . An elegant reminder that the rest of us are capable of doing the same thing. It is not only pleasurable but inspiring reading.” —Elizabeth Berg, author of Night of Miracles
 
“The particular success of this book lies in its shrewdly unsentimental celebration of kindness, community and mutually-supportive women. …[It’s] is a breath of fresh air and already I want to read the next one!” —Felicity Hayes-McCoy, author of The Library at the Edge of the World