Sorry I Missed You by Suzy Krause was my July Prime First Reads pick (want to learn more about this program? Check out this post!). It sounded quirky and fun, and that’s just what I needed during this high stress pandemic time. I completely fell in love with this plot and these characters, and found a new interesting author to follow and read their backlog. I love how Prime First Reads leads me to new beloved authors!

A half-torn, soggy note shows up in the communal mailbox of a recently converted triplex. Sorry I missed you, it begins. Those four simple words unleash a torrent of emotions in each of the three inhabitants, as they each suspect it is intended for them. They’ve each been ghosted, and feel they’re owed an apology from their ghost. Instead of each woman being locked away in her apartment, they begin to form a relationship with one another as they set out to solve who the note is for, and what it means.

I absolutely adored these characters. Whether lovable, irritating, or confounding, each of the three women are intricately created. I’d read an entire novel about each of them alone, and having all three of them together in one book is a gift. The way they behave with one another and their world is intriguing and funny, and I found myself laughing out loud more than once. Their landlord, the bumbling, socially awkward Larry, is a wonderful character in his own right. Mentally stuck back in the good ol’ days and lacking the ability to live in this massive house he’s inherited due to extensive rules in the will, such as no planting flowers in the front garden or playing any music after 1952, he decides to rent it out.  Also, he can’t live there because he knows about the ghosts, and he just can’t live with them.

I know, I’m surprised I read a book with ghosts in the description, too! It isn’t usually up my alley, as a giant scaredy cat, but something nudged me to give this one a try and I am so glad I did. The ghosts are the cherry on top of this wonderful novel, as their antics on the women living in the house slowly lead the women to truths about themselves, each other, and where they’re meant to be.

The setting of this novel is a character unto itself, and now I’m googling trips to Regina, Saskatchewan, as Krause just described it in such a lovely way I can’t help but want to visit. From the quaint city to the unique coffee shop to poor Mackenzie’s crazy place of employment, this novel is full of details that stick with you and descriptions you won’t soon forget. One of the many sentences I highlighted in this charming book was, “People referred to it as a city, and it technically was, but it was a city in the same way an eighteen-year-old was an adult: just barely, and unconvincingly so.”

This novel was a real delight to read, and one I can see myself re-reading in the future. It is fun, but also has moments full of depth. I felt my heart constrict with empathy often, and laughed just as often. I absolutely loved every word.