Where We Belong

By: Emily Giffin

Narrated by: Orlagh Cassidy

Length: 11 hrs

Publisher's summary

The author of five blockbuster novels, Emily Giffin delivers an unforgettable story of two women, the families that make them who they are, and the longing, loyalty, and love that binds them together.

Marian Caldwell is a 36-year-old television producer, living her dream in New York City. With a fulfilling career and satisfying relationship, she has convinced everyone, including herself, that her life is just as she wants it to be. But one night, Marian answers a knock on the door ... only to find Kirby Rose, an 18-year-old girl with a key to a past that Marian thought she had sealed off forever. From the moment Kirby appears on her doorstep, Marian’s perfectly constructed world - and her very identity - will be shaken to its core, resurrecting ghosts and memories of a passionate young love affair that threaten everything that has come to define her.

For the precocious and determined Kirby, the encounter will spur a process of discovery that ushers her across the threshold of adulthood, forcing her to re-evaluate her family and future in a wise and bittersweet light. As the two women embark on a journey to find the one thing missing in their lives, each will come to recognize that where we belong is often where we least expect to find ourselves - a place that we may have willed ourselves to forget, but that the heart remembers forever.

©2012 Emily Giffin (P)2012 Macmillan Audio

Charming story!

I loved feeling the emotion and the evolving relationships between all of the characters. I was interesting how my emotion could change so quickly depending on which character was prominent in the moment. Oh and I fell in love with Phillip. He was just too dang cute.

Sequel???

Will we ever know if they get together??? I hope so. Great book. Such a great story of mistakes and forgiveness.

A lovely third person view

I just enjoyed this book for the third time. Each time a little more! So much to relate to, but also so much to think about and wish for.

Fell in love with Kirby

I love audible for my car rides. This one had me dedicated out of the car. The characters were so real and lovable! Great listen!

Where We Belong

This book held my interest. However, it was average to above average as compared to other books to which I have listened. The narrator was very good. I'd recommend it as okay and probably worth the time spent. It would not however be the best listen.

Another Emily Giffin hit!

Would you consider the audio edition of Where We Belong to be better than the print version?

I think the audio version adds a certain dynamic to the story.

Would you be willing to try another book from Emily Giffin? Why or why not?

I have read almost everything she has written, so I'd definitely try another one.

What does Orlagh Cassidy bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

She definitely gets Kirby's sarcastic attitude spot-on.

If you could take any character from Where We Belong out to dinner, who would it be and why?

It would be hard to choose. There are so many characters with so much to offer.

Sad!!

This was a great book! I'm sad that Conrad didn't stay with Marian ... or epilogue where Marian decided she needed to go to Conrad and tell him she still loves him!!!

Excellent

This was a pleasure to listen to and performed skillfully. I love the positive decisions made by the characters.

Polarized

I wanted to like this book, but the polarized characters and their circumstances put me off. I found the character of Marian to be selfish, shallow and predictably into the glitter and bling that comes from a successful life and from being part of a highly advantaged upper class background. She eventually evolves, by necessity, into a more open, inclusive person and for that I give her credit.

I also thought that the adoption was not well-considered. Marian was (and still is) in wealthy circumstances, with parents willing and able to help - aren't these kind of advantages one would want to give a child? It seems that giving away a baby to a "better life" doesn't really ring true in this case, and then, how is "better" defined?

Truth be told, I don't think that the 18-yr-old Marian saw a life with Conrad and baby to be a realistic option for her, that she wanted more - more in terms of security, reliability, prosperity, and the ability to continue her life in the manner in which she was raised. I don't see anything really wrong in this, so perhaps I am on the fence.

Then there is... "Kirby". Despite that her character IMO has a dumb name, and as interpreted by Orlagh Cassidy sounds predictably juvenile and under-sophisticated and her voice sounds annoyingly ducklike, her "nice", neutral but unremarkable midwestern middle-class background - with all its white bread aspects - is pitted against the eye-popping glitz and glamour of Marian's exotic-by-comparison life.

But the ending seemed to fit. There didn't seem to be any compelling reason, even the existence of Kirby, for Marian and Conrad to restart their relationship. What would Marian do with this? Move to Chicago and try to reinvent her producer status there? Could Conrad and Marian actually make it as a couple? It seems that these two are still in love, but love is not enough.

The book seems to be saying that there are certain relationships that are for love, fun and excitement, and others that are more "appropriate" and realistic. The Peter/Marian connection is one of these latter types, and I just assumed that after breaking up with Peter right after she'd been around the still wild-and-crazy artist Conrad, she'd just go on to find a similar character.

I can see why Emily Giffin is so successful, though. Polarizing is probably a requirement of the types of novels she writes, and this novel in particular opens the possibility of further development - will there be a sequel? Or will some other author pick up this theme?

I have to say that on balance I enjoyed the book - more entertaining than annoying.

Compelling, evocative, humorously delicious listen

Emily Giffin is that rare writer whose craft is continually refined with each book. I've enjoyed all her novels, but this one is the most developed, well researched yet. She paints such a gutsy, frank look at adoption, relationships and family against the hollow, plastic reality of the television industry. Evocative, heart wrenching, and simultaneously warming, Where We Belong is a thoroughly engaging tale with a fine narration by Orlagh Cassidy.