This Must Be the Place

By: Maggie O'Farrell

Narrated by: Graham Rowat, Saskia Maarleveld

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

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

This Must Be The Place

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

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.

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.

Fantastic story and readers

Such a wonderful story. Bizarre circumstances bring two wildy disparate characters together for a completely enjoyable tale. Family, fame, simplicity, death, palpable emotions……Well written and wonderfully produced for audio.

Beautiful craftsmanship!

One of the most compelling storytellers I’ve read in awhile - it pulled me along in a surprisingly complex narrative weave without losing me in the process. I loved how she put the pieces of this story in place without losing momentum, varying the pacing in really engaging ways. Loved it.

not a fan

There were too many different povs, so it was difficult to connect with the main characters because they felt like strangers due to this constant introducción of new characters and their povs, plus all the different time jumps. it was a lot.

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.

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)

Magnificent

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