Cover Image: Saving Missy

Saving Missy

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Member Reviews

This book is just what I needed to read during the current lockdown - a feel good novel full of warmth, kindness and the power of humanity.

Missy is nearly 80 and lives alone. She knows her prickly nature can push people away but does she have the power to change? Her son lives in Australia with her grandson and she is alienated from her other child, daughter Melanie. But when Missy meets Otis and his mother Angela in the park could this be the start of her life turning round?

A five star read with hidden depths.

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I found this book an easy read but somewhat lacking a clear structure. It jumped about a bit and hinted at future storylines which then took a while to be revealed.
I liked the characters and thought Missy’s friends that she made were the best part of the book. Some more serious parts of the book were rushed over and could have been explored more deeply. Overall, it was an enjoyable read but nothing spectacular.

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A positive book to start the year. Even though Missy is by her own reckoning, somewhat difficult and prickly, she is cajoled along by the people she meets in her local park. Together they are an unlikely band but each brings company to each other and they never give up on Missy, even when she pushes them away. I loved the descriptions of her house and the treasures that are found and of her past life with her husband Leo.
I have 2 cats but by the end of this book, I wanted a dog so I can go and find dog walker friends!
This book is so reminiscent of what is happening in the world today and gives the reader hope that everyone can find friends no matter what age they are and that we all need somebody.

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Yet another book along the lines of Eleanor Oliphant.

Missy is 79 and lonely. She wouldn't admit to it, but she is. Her beloved son and Grandson live in Australia. There is a daughter too - but she's barely mentioned when we first meet Missy.

Missy has decided to go along to the park on one cold winter day. The fish in the pond are going to be stunned, then put into another pond, which is going to allow the original pond to be cleaned!
There are signs all over the park advertising this and as I can well believe, it has caused quite the store with the usual dog walkers and parents with kids, all planning to come and watch! Missy thinks that this will give her something a little more interesting to put in her email to her son.

This is where Missy first encounters some of the park regulars who are about to change her life.

As Missy opened up more to the people around her, I warmed to her. We learned what events in her past have made her the woman that she is today. What she would change if she could and how once she begins to embrace new experiences, she realises that maybe she has more to give.

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Definitely different to what I assumed the story would be about. It’s has some powerful moments within it too. Was glad I continued to read it.

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Thank you Netgalley for my review copy of this book - much appreciated.

I liked the sound of this book which was why I applied in the competition. However, I was a little disappointed in the first few chapters - I thought I would not be able to finish it. Neverthless, I persevered and I am really happy I did.
This book has been compared to Eleanor Oliphant but I am pushing it out there that this book is better. It gave me more promise than that book and it had more imagination with it's characters.
I found the storyline of an older lady struggling to be on her own very poignant for our time where many older people no longer have a social network to rely on and are often ignored in the larger stores and streets in society. This book gave me hope that people can still be decent and sociable and that inside everyone there is a character that shines.
I will definately be looking out for more Beth Morrey books in the future and recommend this book for a cold autumnal day cuddled up on your sofa with your blanket and your cup of tea. Perfect.

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With thanks to netgalley for an early copy in return for an honest opinion.
Quite a different book than I thought it was going to be but actually turned out much better than I thought. Quite thought provoking, and an interesting read.

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It took me awhile to get round to reading this book, life got in the way. How I wish I'd read it earlier. A feel good story that left me happy, satisfied and pleased I'd enjoyed it so much.

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Saving Missy is a bi-story narrative. We join a young Missy, a woman of her time. Gloriously bright and sparky, she gets swallowed behind closed doors as a housewife and mother as her husband makes his mark on the world. Fast forward and 79 year old Missy rambles around her enormous but threadbare London home, desperately seeking company.

With a bit of groundwork, an element of fortune and a fantastic cast of characters, Missy seeks to turn her present day life around. There are laughs and tears along the way and much of the book is glorious.

Saving Missy is a beautifully told and paced read. However, there is one element which (even with the author’s attempt to rationalise),I thought jarring and entirely unnecessary for the story. I would recommend the book but would be mindful who I would recommend it to. A rounded up 3.5*

Thanks to Harper Collins and Netgalley for an ARC in consideration of an honest review.

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Millicent (Missy) Carmichael is an example of a lost generation: university-educated, career shelved for a marriage to another lauded academician, children born and (reluctantly) raised. Now without a husband and with her children long having flown the nest, she is prone to a lot of navel-gazing, wallowing in painful memories and is terminally stuck in a lonesome rut of “abstract galactic isolation”. Living in a big house and failing to make ends meet. Her only grandchild is in Australia. A chance encounter with Sylvie and her unruly journalist friend Angela with her son Otis and Bob the (female) dog slowly, slowly open up her world. Slowly she emerges, “baby steps, old woman’s steps”, from a mere existence into a life.
A novel like a supercosy, if improbable, jumper.

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I really didn’t like Missy - I suppose that is the point of the book; that taking people on face value is a mistake and that they often have hidden depths, but I really struggled to understand Missy or see why anyone y of the people she met persevered with her. I also struggled to finish this book and by the end decided it hadn’t been worth the effort. Not for me, I’m afraid!

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Saving Missy is one of those books you don’t expect to like and end up loving!!!!

What a lovely book this is, very sad and had you reaching for the tissues (in bucketloads) but also uplifting and funny too!

It’s such an excellent piece of work and it will stay with me a long time. Missy is so endearing (eventually) and I loved seeing her life unfold in her memories, all her joy and mistakes and I just loved her.

Loved it and would give it 100 stars!

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In these troubled times a story about hope, friendship and forgiveness is just what I need. A truly enjoyable book which left me with a smile on my face and the belief that things will get better as people are inherently good and care about each other.

Next time you are feeling a bot overwhelmed by the relentless rubbishness of 2020 pick up this book and treat yourself to some good cheer.

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Such a lovely and heartwarming book, which I think will appeal to fans of Eleanor Olliphant. A prickly narrator who has isolated herself from her community slowly starts to let others in after a chance encounter in the park. Lots of affirming strong female friendships and a general sense of well-being. It is a big cup of tea of a novel.

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"Saving Missy" is a heart-warming tale of finding new friends and new interests in later life. Missy is nearly 80 and still rattling around in the family home in Stoke Newington. Her busy daughter lives in Cambridge with her partner. Her son has emigrated to Australia, homeland of his wife, and only visits once a year with her grandson. Missy doesn't really seem to realise how lonely and isolated she has become but others around her have noticed. In addition to being about friendships across the generations, and about community, there are also hints about making use of local facilities such as parks and libaries.

A lovely book. Thanks to Net Galley and the publishers for the opportunity to read it.

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Missy Carmichael is struggling, grieving, her world is shrinking. Living alone in her huge house, will she take risks and make new friends?
A beautifully written debut, Saving Missy makes for ensconcing uplit, full of sadness and joy, life being difficult but being lived. The supporting characters are quirky and Missy herself is so well-drawn I wanted to give her a hug!
I look forward to reading Beth's next book.

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This book was a slow burner for me but a few chapters in I was enthralled.

The story begins when we first meet Missy, a 79-year-old living alone, her husband has gone and her children have long flown the nest. She is sad, lonely and not really coping.

This story is about someone trying to learn independence late in life, starting over, an interesting premise. And there are some delightful turns of phrase.

Missy had a terrible argument with her daughter and their relationship is fractured - can it be mended?

Can Missy let her neighbours in and could they even become friends?

Throughout the story we learn about Missy's eventful life as she reminisces about her family and her life. At 79 she has a lot of stories. In the beginning Missy was not easy to like which is why this was a slow burn for me.

As we get to know her she becomes more likeable and I began to care for her and what happens to her. It is an emotional story so have your tissues ready.

Her relationships with these women, the fellow dog walker family and especially the dog are lovely to see flourish.

A real heartwarming read that I thoroughly enjoyed.

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A lovely read, a real tonic in the current climate.

#NoSpoilers but it was good to read a story with a different age demographic for a change.

Recomend.

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This is an attempt at a feel-good, uplifting kind of book (which I do not usually go for). It is well-written and the characters are believable, but it completely fails because the protagonist, Missy, is such an unlikeable person; why she gets taken up by a group of delightful people who do so much for her is inexplicable - she has even driven her own daughter away. The fact that she is almost eighty feels wrong - the life and personality changes she eventually makes should belong to a younger woman. Her relationship with her husband was portrayed as distant even though he is supposed to be the love of her life (there is little evidence shown of this when she first meets him). She is grumpy and ungrateful. She has a big, expensive house but has never tried to make it a nice comfortable home. She has been a heavy drinker all her life and has no friends. Some mitigating circumstances are revealed at the over-sentimental end, but I feel too late. It just does not work.

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The story is set at the time of the Brexit referendum, as well as following Missy from her youth. Seventy nine year old Missy Carmichael lives alone rattling around her big house in Stoke Newington. Her husband is no longer with her. She is estranged from her daughter & her son & adored grandson live in Australia. When feeling faint in the park she is helped by passers by & these people. As a result she ends up befriending single mum Angela & son Otis & Sylvie. Angela decides that what she needs is to foster a dog- its owner being on the run from an abusive marriage. Bob (renamed Bobby as it sounded more feminine) is the last thing Missy thinks she needs but, as dogs do, she filled up spaces she didn't know were empty. Walking a dog is a great way to make friends as Missy soon finds, she also finds a way to open up her lonely life.

I loved this book- even if I was a snivelling wreak at the end. The characters were wonderful. It took a while to get going- but then Missy took a long while to get to know! It's one that will stay with me for a long while. Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read & review this book.

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