This title will be released on:
Sep 2, 2025
Description
From New York Times bestselling author Sarah McCoy—a spellbinding novel based on a true story: a beautiful young movie star of Hollywood’s Golden Age gives up her bright career to become a nun.
In 1969, twenty-three-year-old starlet Lori Lovely, the apple of Hollywood’s eye, shocks the world by ditching a promising film career to take vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience as a Benedictine nun. Gossip columnists and scandal sheets can’t get enough of the story. Why would such a beautiful girl take the veil? Was she hiding from someone? Did it have anything to do with the tragic death of her costar, heartthrob singer Lucas Wesley?
In 1990, Lu Tibbott is under the gun to complete her senior thesis in modern American history. Instead of spending weeks in dusty archives, Lu decides to dig into a true twentieth-century mystery and write about her aunt Lori, now the Mother Abbess at a cloistered convent in rural New England. Biographers, bloggers, and media types have long speculated about her aunt Lori’s sudden departure from Hollywood. Mother Lori, however, has refused all requests for interviews—until Lu arrives at the abbey with a tape recorder in hand. To her delight, Mother Lori announces she’s finally ready to talk...but only if Lu is truly ready to listen.
Lu is shocked to discover that the story of Lori Lovely’s rise in Hollywood was far more tumultuous than she’d ever expected, a fairy tale twisting with ambition, unforeseen alliances, forbidden love, and secrets. 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?
Product Details
| Publisher | William Morrow |
| Publish Date | September 02, 2025 |
| Pages | 336 |
| Language | English |
| Type |  Hardback |
| EAN/UPC | 9780063338746 |
| Dimensions | 9.0 X 6.0 X 1.0 inches | 16.0 pounds |
About the Author
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.
Connect with Sarah on Instagram at @SarahMMcCoy, on her Facebook Fan Page, Goodreads, or via her website, www.sarahmccoy.com.
Reviews
"A tale with heart that deepens to explore questions of love, loyalty, fame and faith.” — Charmaine Wilkerson, New York Times bestselling author of Black Cake
"The divine Sarah McCoy has written a novel of heartbreak and hope. Brava!" — Adriana Trigiani, New York Times bestselling author of All the Stars in the Heavens
“Sarah McCoy brings to life one of Hollywood’s golden ages, the 1960s, in this delightful tale of a starlet who trades the movies for the monastery, leaving her forlorn fans wondering why. Part mystery, part history, it's always a joy." — Chris Bohjalian, #1 New York Times Bestselling Author of The Jackal’s Mistress
Enchanting…a sparkling emotional story of young love, Hollywood glamour, heart-wrenching betrayal, and devastating tragedy, all set to the backdrop of the 1960s film industry. — Kristin Harmel, New York Times bestselling author of The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau
"I knew this novel would be fun (who doesn’t love an ingenue turned movie star turned nun?), but it was so much more than that. It was a balm for the spirit, a beautifully-written, moving, page-turner that I didn’t want to end. Lori Lovely is a blueprint for how to create joy and meaning in a troubled world. I loved this book!” — Jeanine Cummins, #1 New York Times bestselling author of American Dirt
Lori Lovely was a young girl who shot to international stardom on the silver screen, only to abruptly quit show business to become a nun. Years later, her niece comes to interview Lori for a thesis, and to find answers to long-held questions. With a completely unique premise and richly woven details, each page of WHATEVER HAPPENED TO LORI LOVELY? leaves the reader hungry for more. Sarah McCoy has another best-seller!" — Mary Webber O'Malley, Host/Producer and Bookseller at Skylark Bookshop
This is a beautifully crafted tale of unexpected life-turns, impossible choices, hidden powers of destiny and coming of age. Whatever happened to Lori Lovely? will warm your heart as it did mine. — Tatiana de Rosnay, New York Times bestselling author of The Blonde Dust
Take one small town girl, add a Hollywood breakout role, romance with a dazzling costar, and throw in a sudden disappearance behind the walls of a convent and what do you get? You get Whatever Happened to Lori Lovely, the poignant and captivating new novel by the ever-so-talented Sarah McCoy. I know you will love this tender and deeply reflective novel as much as I did! — Deborah Goodrich Royce, nationally bestselling author of Reef Road
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