Missouri magpie

The Novel

“Walter decided on the name ‘Missouri Magpie’ because the state of Missouri marked the transition between the east and west—the shift between this and that—what was and what could be. He knew that’s what Missouri was for him—the promise of new and exciting adventures, uncertain though they might be.

Magpies had always been his favorite bird. ‘They’re the only non-mammal species that can recognize themselves in a mirror,’ Walter liked to tell people. He thought they were extraordinary. Missouri would be extraordinary too.”

Twenty-two-year-old wallflower Walter Morgan returned to his wooly-soft hometown of Lymansville ten months ago after a failed attempt to make something of himself in the big city. With the help of a glamorous girl named Sylvia, the booming metropolis had smashed his dreams and trampled his heart with spectacular skill. Now living with his parents and doing odd jobs around town, Walter mopes through his days like a broken compass, convinced he will never be anything other than a useless shlub. But his direction becomes clear when Sylvia shows up out of nowhere, plops a baby girl into his arms, and bolts. It turns out Walter did make something of himself in the big city.

Though dumbstruck, Walter barrels through his usual self-doubt, hits the streets in search of formula and diapers, and names the newest Morgan “Missouri Magpie.” As Walter and the clever Missouri adventure through her childhood, Walter learns to meet the mischievous insistence of fate with admirable—though sometimes harebrained—solutions while navigating the challenges of single fatherhood, love, and realities both wondrous and ugly. With the help of family and friends—and to his surprise, Missouri—Walter begins to realize the extraordinary in every day of his ordinary life.

With a vintage voice and a fresh perspective, Missouri Magpie weaves a timeless and relevant tale that lays bare the certain brilliance and absurdity of life in a curiously enlightened town where the sense—while sometimes bonkers—is always common, and the truth—while sometimes unbelievable—is always unvarnished. Brimming with delicious characters, shenanigans, and perception-challenging reveals, Missouri Magpie will remind you of the people, places, and moments that fill the patchwork of your own story and leave you convinced that while Lymansville might not be real, it exists everywhere.