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Whatever Happened to Lori Lovely?

A Novel

Sarah McCoy

336 Pages

On-Sale Date: 22/09/2026

ISBN: 9780063338753

Trim Size: 4.710in x 7.170in x 1.040in

Format:

$19.99

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"A mesmerizing tale of glamour, secrets, and reinvention, I absolutely loved it."

—Jamie Ford, New York Times bestselling author of The Many Daughters of Afong Moy

In 1969, twenty-three-year-old starlet Lori Lovely shocks the world by ditching a promising film career to take vows as a Benedictine nun. The media can’t get enough of the story. Why would such a beautiful girl take the veil? Did it have anything to do with her costar, heartthrob singer Lucas Wesley?

In 1990, history student Lu Tibbott decides to dig into a true twentieth-century mystery for her senior thesis and write about her aunt Lori, now the Mother Abbess at a cloistered convent in rural New England. For decades Mother Lori has refused all requests for interviews—until Lu arrives with a tape recorder in hand. To Lu’s delight, Mother Lori is finally ready to talk…but only if Lu is truly ready to listen.

Lu is shocked by the story of Lori Lovely’s tumultuous years in Hollywood, a fairy tale twisting with ambition, unforeseen alliances, and forbidden love. What began as a history thesis now threatens to upend all their lives with its unexpected truths, especially as the media gets wind of Lu’s project and begins to ask…

Whatever happened to Lori Lovely?

SARAH McCOY is the New York Times, USA Today, and international bestselling author of the novels Whatever Happened To Lori Lovely?, Mustique Island, Marilla of Green Gables, The Mapmaker’s Children, The Baker’s Daughter, a 2012 Goodreads Choice Award Best Historical Fiction nominee, the novella “The Branch of Hazel” in Grand Central, and The Time It Snowed in Puerto Rico. Her work has been featured in Newsweek, Lit Hub, Write or Die Tribe, Real Simple, The Millions, Your Health Monthly, Huffington Post, Read It Forward, Writer Unboxed, and other publications. She hosted the NPR WSNC Radio monthly program “Bookmarked with Sarah McCoy” and is the founder of The McCoy Grant. Sarah previously taught English writing at Old Dominion University and at the University of Texas at El Paso. She lives with her husband Doc B, dog Gilly, and cat Tutu in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.