Book Review: SAVING MISSY by Beth Morrey

Title: SAVING MISSY

Author: Beth Morrey
Publisher: HarperCollins Australia
Read: November 2019

Expected publication: 20 January 2020

My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

Book Description:

Missy Carmichael’s life has become small.

Grieving for a family she has lost or lost touch with, she’s haunted by the echoes of her footsteps in her empty home; the sound of the radio in the dark; the tick-tick-tick of the watching clock.

Spiky and defensive, Missy knows that her loneliness is all her own fault. She deserves no more than this; not after what she’s done. But a chance encounter in the park with two very different women opens the door to something new.

Another life beckons for Missy, if only she can be brave enough to grasp the opportunity. But seventy-nine is too late for a second chance. Isn’t it?

My musings:

SAVING MISSY  is the third book I read this year that features an older heroine (Missy is rapidly approaching 80), and I am so glad to see older people making a come-back in fiction! There is something irresistible about books that reflect back on life’s journey, and knowing that wonderful new things can still happen in the winter of your life.

If I had to sum up this book in just a few words, I would say it is about friendships, and the power of people to save each other. Missy is a woman in her late seventies living in her big empty house in London, feeling the silence suffocating her. To escape her loneliness and to have something to write about to her grandson on the other side of the world, she takes long walks through the park, which does little to improve her isolation. Until an accident put her in the path of strangers who will end up changing her life forever – through the most unlikely friendships.

The narrative of SAVING MISSY unfolds slowly, as Missy’s life gradually changes for the better through the budding friendships she has recently – and reluctantly – forged. Throughout the book, she reflects back on her life and the choices she has made that have brought her to this place in time, her lonely existence, her empty house. Although Missy can be prickly at times, and tends to close herself off when she feels stressed, she is a very different character to Eleanor Oliphant, which is a comparison that has been made in the media. So if you weren’t a fan of Eleanor, be reassured that Missy is completely different. And if you were, then this book will still offer you a very unique character who is worth your time getting to know.

I’m not sure if this book is being marketed as “uplit”, but I thought it fits the genre well. There is some tragedy, as life most often serves up through one’s lifetime at some stage, but the general message is one of hope and salvation when one has all but lost hope. I loved the way the author brought out this feel-good vibe in a way that never sounded preachy, or stereotypical, or cheesy – indeed a difficult balance to achieve. If this cynical reader claims that – then this is saying something! As the story took me on its roller coaster ride of life’s ups and downs, I laughed, I cringed, I shivered a little and I shed quite a few tears. There will be triggers for some readers, which I can’t discuss because of spoilers, but just be prepared to have your heart ground in the dirt and stomped on a few times, and have some tissues handy!

I read about an interview with the author, in which she said that she “wanted to write a book that could make people cry, but with happiness, not sadness.” I feel that she has totally fulfilled that criteria.

Thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins Australia for the free electronic copy of this novel and for giving me the opportunity to provide an honest review.