Isabella's Not Dead by Beth Morrey (The Love Story of Missy Carmichael; Delphine Jones Takes a Chance) is a darkly funny novel about friendship, reinvention, and the strange limbo of midlife. Gwen Mortimer, 53, is feeling increasingly invisible. Her children are becoming more self-reliant, she's lost her job, and even her podcasting husband, Angus, seems more engaged with his microphone and his beloved dog than with her.
When a reunion of her secondary school's hockey team highlights the absence of her former best friend, Isabella, whom no one has been able to contact in 15 years, Gwen seizes on a new purpose: to find out why Isabella ghosted them. Although some of their teammates think she must have died, Gwen is certain that Isabella's not dead--even if a Ouija board seems to be sending messages that suggest otherwise.
What follows is a heartfelt and often hilarious journey across England, Scotland, and Italy, as Gwen tracks down Isabella's family, colleagues, and other friends. Along the way, she uncovers not only clues to Isabella's vanishing act but also long-buried truths about herself.
Morrey's wise writing is laced with a wry humor that captures the absurdities of aging, marriage, and memory. Gwen's relationships with her gangly sons and her difficult mother-in-law are sharply observed. But what truly sets Isabella's Not Dead apart is Morrey's nuanced examination of how friendships can shift, fracture, and sometimes disappear entirely--and how that loss can shape people just as much as love. --Jessica Howard, former bookseller, freelance book reviewer