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This Must Be the Place

By: Maggie O'Farrell
Narrated by: Graham Rowat, Saskia Maarleveld
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Publisher's summary

The dazzling new novel from best-selling, award-winning author Maggie O'Farrell, This Must Be the Place crosses time zones and continents to reveal an extraordinary portrait of a marriage.

Meet Daniel Sullivan, a man with a complicated life. A New Yorker living in the wilds of Ireland, he has children he never sees in California; a father he loathes in Brooklyn; and a wife, Claudette, who is a reclusive ex-film star given to shooting at anyone who ventures up their driveway. He is also about to find out something about a woman he lost touch with 20 years ago, and this discovery will send him off course, far away from wife and home. Will his love for Claudette be enough to bring him back?

This Must Be the Place crosses continents and time zones, giving voice to a diverse and complex cast of characters. At its heart it is an extraordinary portrait of a marriage, the forces that hold it together, and the pressures that drive it apart. Maggie O'Farrell's seventh novel is a dazzling, intimate epic about who we leave behind and who we become as we search for our place in the world.

©2016 Maggie O'Farrell (P)2016 Recorded Books

What listeners say about This Must Be the Place

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Not as good as others but still enjoyable.

Somewhat complicated family structure. I didn't warm to any of the characters. Attempts at voice changes by the narrator were not convincing.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

this must be the place

very good. but its 400 pages long so its 30 chapters and 14 hours of listening. even though like a book I did not want to stop listening and stayed up late to finish it. which of course I didn't. but if not paying attention closely you can get confused because the author jumps from past history of the characters to the present hence why 400 hundred pages. still a good book

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

This Must Be The Place

I liked how the author kept me hoping that Daniel and Claudette would end up together.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

The dedication of his son to him after years of not seeing each other.

I love Claudette’s character. Daniel was a little too wishy washy. I like how they went back and forth from Europe to America and how they went back in forth with time.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Magnificent

Beautiful and deeply human story of life and the choices that form who we are

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

If this is your first Maggie O’Farrell book.. don’t give up on her yet!

I have a hard time believing that the same person who wrote Hamnet also wrote this. While Hamnet does start to drag after a certain major event takes place, the writing itself is so lovely that I didn’t really mind. The Marriage Portrait was also written with such eloquent and beautiful prose that I could hardly bear to stop listening!
When I saw this O’Farrell book was included in the plus catalog I immediately downloaded it, ready for another literary feast that never came. Right out of the gate this book felt awkward and disjointed for me, but I persisted in the optimistic expectation that Maggie O’Farrell would turn the ship around… she didn’t.
If this was my first book by the author, I can’t say I’d be willing to give her another chance. (I’ve read similarly dismal reviews about her book How to Survive a Heat Wave so I’ll probably skip that one too) Please do reserve judgement until after you’ve given Hamnet a listen (narrated by Ell Potter)

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Great characters… great writing

Not my favorite Maggie book but still very good! Lots of interesting characters you come to know well. Love, loss, pain: weaved into the story in an engaging tale.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Liked it?

I tried to Not like this book. But, in the end, I loved it. Persevere !

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Pretty good

After hearing Maggie O'Farrell's books recommended by several people I decided to go with this as my first read. It was ok but but I just couldn't really get into it. I have since read other works by the author and enjoyed them more than this one. The book was ok but just not particularly memorable.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Excellent story!

I loved this book and the readers. What’s not to love with all these related characters?

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