Miss You: A Novel

by Kate Eberlen

Overview

"If ever a couple was ‘meant to be,’ it’s Tess and Gus. This is such a witty, poignant, and uplifting story of two lives crisscrossing over the years, with near miss after near miss. . . . I couldn’t put it down." — Sophie Kinsella

For fans of One Day in December, The Flatshare, and This Time Next Year, a wryly romantic debut novel that asks, what if you just walked by the love of your life, but didn’t even know it?

"TODAY IS THE FIRST DAY OF THE REST OF YOUR LIFE." Tess can’t get the motto from her mother’s kitchen knickknack out of her head, even though she’s in Florence on an idyllic vacation before starting university in London.

Gus is also visiting Florence, on a holiday with his parents seven months after tragedy shattered their lives. Headed to medical school in London, he’s trying to be a dutiful son but longs to escape and discover who he really is.

A chance meeting brings these eighteen-year-olds together for a brief moment—the first of many times their paths will crisscross as time passes and their lives diverge from those they’d envisioned. Over the course of the next sixteen years, Tess and Gus will face very different challenges and choices. Separated by distance and circumstance, the possibility of these two connecting once more seems slight.

But while fate can separate two people, it can also bring them back together again. . . .

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062460233
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	04/03/2018
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	448
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 7.90(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

KATE EBERLEN grew up in a small town close to London and spent her childhood reading books and longing to escape to the big city. She studied classics at Oxford University before pursuing a variety of jobs in publishing, the arts and teaching. Eberlen loves Italy and dance, two passions that are reflected in If Only. She lives in London.

Editorial Reviews

If ever a couple was ‘meant to be’ it’s Tess and Gus. This is such a witty, poignant and uplifting story of two lives criss-crossing over the years, with near-miss after near-miss...I couldn’t put it down.” — Sophie Kinsella

“Brilliantly constructed, with wonderful characters you’ll be cheering on, this romantic story is full of poignant moments, has a huge heart and a massive feel-good factor. Engrossing and entertaining.” — Sunday Mirror

“Debut novelist Eberlen develops two wonderfully distinct storylines, but her characters are carefully connected by proximity and circumstance….Eberlen’s characters are so real and deserving of love—thankfully it’s safe to root for them both, and root for them you will.” — Kirkus

“Eberlen . . . excels in creating realistic characters whom readers will adore-including Tess’ unusual sister, Hope; Tess’ sassy best friend, Doll; and Gus’ impulsive college pal, Nash. Eberlen also shines at keeping the story moving through 16 years of friendship, purpose, and love. Swoon-worthy.” — Booklist (starred review)

“Eberlen’s marvelous debut novel captivates and immerses. . . . This worthy, wonderful, and witty read is a must-have for all romantics who believe in hope.” — Library Journal

“Captivating. . . . a compelling story. . . . This episodic, detail-rich narrative breeds suspense as readers grow eager to learn if fate will ever allow these two lost souls—who often feel trapped by the elusive nature of love and happiness—finally to find each other.”   — Shelf Awareness

“Hugely enjoyable romantic comedy with a great premise . . . . Thoroughly deserving comparison with David Nicholls’ One Day (and I don’t say that lightly), this is commercial fiction of the very highest order.” — Alice O'Keeffe, The Bookseller (UK)

“MISS YOU is utterly charming, engaging, moving, a story which is both wonderfully romantic yet also true to life. The perfect summer read.” — Kate Mosse, author of Labyrinth

“I adored this book: it is wildly romantic, heart-achingly sad, warmly funny and really clever. Tess and Gus come from different sides of the social tracks, but share a tragic family history and a serial lack of luck in love. There are numerous points at which they might meet but don’t - and right to the end you’re kept wondering. . . . It’s been widely compared to One Day and deserves to do just as brilliantly.” — Daily Mail (UK)

“An unashamedly romantic novel, but one that also deals with the ongoing and deep-seated effects of grief. Both intricate and engrossing, its real pleasure lies in Eberlen’s assured writing with its level of detail and rich characterization.” — Sunday Express (London)

From the Publisher

Eberlen . . . excels in creating realistic characters whom readers will adore-including Tess’ unusual sister, Hope; Tess’ sassy best friend, Doll; and Gus’ impulsive college pal, Nash. Eberlen also shines at keeping the story moving through 16 years of friendship, purpose, and love. Swoon-worthy.

Booklist (starred review)

If ever a couple was ‘meant to be’ it’s Tess and Gus. This is such a witty, poignant and uplifting story of two lives criss-crossing over the years, with near-miss after near-miss...I couldn’t put it down.

Sophie Kinsella

MISS YOU is utterly charming, engaging, moving, a story which is both wonderfully romantic yet also true to life. The perfect summer read.

Kate Mosse

I adored this book: it is wildly romantic, heart-achingly sad, warmly funny and really clever. Tess and Gus come from different sides of the social tracks, but share a tragic family history and a serial lack of luck in love. There are numerous points at which they might meet but don’t - and right to the end you’re kept wondering. . . . It’s been widely compared to One Day and deserves to do just as brilliantly.

Daily Mail (UK)

Hugely enjoyable romantic comedy with a great premise . . . . Thoroughly deserving comparison with David Nicholls’ One Day (and I don’t say that lightly), this is commercial fiction of the very highest order.

Alice O'Keeffe

Brilliantly constructed, with wonderful characters you’ll be cheering on, this romantic story is full of poignant moments, has a huge heart and a massive feel-good factor. Engrossing and entertaining.

Sunday Mirror

An unashamedly romantic novel, but one that also deals with the ongoing and deep-seated effects of grief. Both intricate and engrossing, its real pleasure lies in Eberlen’s assured writing with its level of detail and rich characterization.

Sunday Express (London)

Captivating. . . . a compelling story. . . . This episodic, detail-rich narrative breeds suspense as readers grow eager to learn if fate will ever allow these two lost souls—who often feel trapped by the elusive nature of love and happiness—finally to find each other.”  

Shelf Awareness

02/27/2017
In Eberlen’s debut novel, Tess and Gus first meet in 1997, while traveling in Florence. Both are awaiting the results of their college entrance exams, and both seem to have bright futures: Tess as a writer and Gus as a physician. Gus, however, is awash in grief and guilt following the death of his overbearing older brother, unreasonably blaming himself for the fatal accident. And Tess is about to experience a loss of her own, as her mother’s cancer advances—and Tess’s future grows less certain. Over the course of the next 16 years, as they individually fumble through romantic shortcomings, familial frustrations, and professional setbacks, the two narrowly miss one another several more times; these missed connections, however, are never particularly clever or dramatic and the narrative fails to build a case that the two are, in fact, meant to be together. In the end, Eberlen’s novel is more successful as a chronicle of the way grief and loss shapes young people’s life choices than it is as a romance. Consequently, the denouement lands unconvincingly. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

Tantalising . . . What makes [Miss You] such a satisfying read is that both narratives are thoroughly satisfying in their own right, with plenty of great subplots . . . A guilty pleasure.

Reader's Digest UK

Miss You is one of those lovely, comfy duvets of a book that pulls you in and wraps itself around you. A beautifully simple idea, and a simply beautiful book.

Simon Toyne

Just the thing for long Summer nights.

Good Housekeeping

This debut romance by the British author playfully upends the expectation of happily ever after.

HELLO! Canada

Two lives are unknowingly interwoven in this tantalizing, perfectly-pitched journey through a crater-filled emotional landscape. MISS YOU is charming, comforting, acutely honest and belongs on the same shelf as ONE DAY.

Mark Ellen

Funny, poignant and really rather lovely.

The Observer

This delightful novel is a page-turner, and its suspense comes not only from how and when the lovers will find each other, but whether or not they will manage to grow into the people they are meant to be by the time they do.

Kate Hilton

If David Nicholl’s novel One Day and Richard Linklater’s Before Sunset films were to meet, have a brief, thrilling affair and end up producing an unexpected love child, it would be Kate Eberlen’s Miss You. A warm and funny romance that will divert and delight you in equal measure.

Leah McLaren

Miss You could be this summer’s One Day

Telegraph (UK)

Thoroughly deserving comparison with David Nicholls’ wonderful One Day (and I don’t say that lightly), this is commercial fiction of the very highest order.

Bookseller (UK)

2017-01-23
Have you ever caught a stranger's eye for a moment too long and wondered, "what if?"In 1997, 18-year-old Tess and her best friend, Doll, are in Florence, Italy, the summer before Tess is supposed to begin university in London. She first encounters the lanky, disheveled Gus when they both wander inside a quiet church. By chance, Tess and Doll see him again on the Ponte Vecchio, where Gus takes a picture for them—but then they're gone. That momentary connection is all that binds these two together as life hands them obstacles and heartbreaks separately. Gus must deal with the guilt he feels over his older brother's death in a skiing accident and grabs the chance to reinvent himself at school with a new girlfriend, Lucy, who knows nothing of his past. Tess returns from Italy to the realization that her mother is not only sick, but dying. Who will care for her unusual baby sister, Hope? For Tess, it means forgoing her spot at the same university where Gus is starting over. Debut novelist Eberlen develops two wonderfully distinct storylines, but her characters are carefully connected by proximity and circumstance. It's as if their shadows are moving in sync from opposite sides of a screen. For readers who like their romance to simmer throughout a story, be warned that Eberlen deals more in missed chances: "In front of me, there was a tall woman with a fidgety little girl in one hand"—if only Tess had turned around. We instead have the pleasure of getting to know Gus and Tess completely before they truly meet each other. It's a bittersweet moment when their timelines finally converge years later, as there isn't much time before Eberlen lets the curtain fall. Though at that point it's already clear: "Sometimes the best things are staring you right in the face, know what I mean?" Eberlen's characters are so real and deserving of love—thankfully it's safe to root for them both, and root for them you will.

Kirkus Reviews