Missy: Meet the dazzling, unforgettable Missy, in this year's must-read debut

Meet Missy, the extraordinary, dazzling, must-read debut of 2024, with a main character who will capture your heart She's chosen her own future. Madras, India: The orphaned girls of St Ursula's convent are destined to be nuns or servants but seventeen-year-old Savi dreams of escape. Responsible and good with languages, she's taken on as governess for the wealthy Nandiyar family at their country estate. The horrific events of a single night force Savi and her love, Ananda, into a dangerous journey, re-emerging in America under new identities, their homeland forever in their rearview. But the past is never far away. Forty years later, Savi, known to all as Missy, is the embodiment of the American dream - successful business owner in Chicago, pillar of the South Asian community, and mother to two brilliant, stubborn young women, Mansi and Shilpa. Until Varun, a charming doctor, enters their lives, setting off a chain of events that puts Missy's carefully constructed world in jeopardy with the revelation that you can never truly outrun your secrets... A spellbinding, heartbreaking debut - fans of Monica Ali, Bernadine Evaristo and Brit Bennett will adore this.