Joined in 2023 
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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 ignoring death could somehow fob it off. But people kept dying and other people kept writing about it, and some perverse imp obliged me to keep up to date.”
Surveying the boxes, chests and trunks - the leftovers of lost lives: Fa-Fa, Jette, my mother and father, Leo, even Alistair and Mel, since they’d begun new lives elsewhere – I fancied I could hear the echo of them all in their things.” Moving but not sentimental... [a character] as complex, frustrating, vulnerable and surprising as any I've met in print' Eleanor Wasserberg, Foxlowe I’ve certainly felt it in the world around me in my past relationships, and in my friends’ relationships and this was one of the things I understood better after working for the domestic violence organisation – there’s a continuum of behaviour. It starts with texting, you know, saying: “Where are you? Who are you with? What are you wearing?” Which I and lots of my friends have experienced. It’s not healthy, but it is common. And that is on a spectrum of behaviour. It’s entitlement, and it’s the failure to treat women as fully autonomous beings. I admit, at the beginning I was not Missy’s biggest fan. I wanted to shake her hard and tell her to get a grip. But as she started to come out of her shell, and let others in, I really warmed to her. Her transformation throughout the novel was one of the best I’ve ever read. The glimpses of her past, both happy and sad, really helped to ground her character. This book really highlights how important love is in life, no matter where we get it from.
About Beth Morrey
Bittersweet, tender, thoughtful and uplifting. Reminds you that everyone deserves a second chance. I loved it' Nina Stibbe, Reasons to be Cheerful Wow! What a truly wonderful story, one that I one hundred percent recommend reading. It’s not often that a story is penned about an slightly older person, that’s the main reason why I liked reading Saving Missy is that it features a seventy-nine - year - old for a change instead of younger characters. Missy is awoken by a dog nuzzling her face and she finds that she has slipped from sitting on the bench to laying on the bench. A concerned group of people has gathered around her, one woman holds a wet napkin to her forehead. Missy’s embarrassment far outweighs any injury. A book for our times: a heartfelt reminder of the affirmative joy of not just being kind to others, but also to yourself’ Piers Torday The Lost Magician Mama would never have given up a career to run a household. She marched to the beat of her own drum, whereas I seemed to listen out for everyone else’s. Mainly Leo’s.”
Overall, THE LOVE STORY OF MISSY CARMICHAEL (alternately titled SAVING MISSY) was just okay. I prefer grumpy, cantankerous, and/or awkward characters in these situations to the boozey and defeatist baseline that this story presented. While some of the slow emotional battles were wonderful to experience, it was also very low and excessively depressing without much to balance it.Missy is lonely and lost. She also has a big secret that has scarred her life and her relationships.
It is a novel full of human warmth, optimistic about overcoming depression. Missy’s story really spoke to one member of the group of depression, redundancy and feelings of pointlessness and worthlessness, till she meets a new world of people. She learns of the contrast between narcissism, an unhealthy self-obsession, contrasting with outward-looking joy in self, philautia, not a look at me type of self-love, but one which involved metaphorically jumping in puddles, splashing others and sharing joy. Although Missy is old and in a different stage of life to some of us, her story really reflected some of our own mental health struggles and showed the possibility of salvation. In the end, 3.5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨. There are some I would recommend it to but not everyone on my F&F list.
A book for our times: a heartfelt reminder of the affirmative joy of not just being kind to others, but also to yourself' - Piers Torday The Lost Magician
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