You Belong Here Now

A Novel

By: Dianna Rostad

Narrated by: Courtney Patterson

Length: 8 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

“It’s so hard to believe that this is a debut novel! It’s an historic novel. Talk about hitting me on so many good points.” (John Busbee, The Culture Buzz, weekly on KFMG.org)

“Set against the harsh backdrop of Montana, You Belong Here Now is a novel as straightforward and powerful as the characters who populate it. I love this book, and I guarantee you won’t find a finer debut work anywhere.” (William Kent Krueger, New York Times best-selling author of This Tender Land)

“You Belong Here Now distills the essence of the American spirit in this uplifting story. Perfect for book clubs looking to discuss the true meaning of family.” (Kathleen Grissom, New York Times best-selling author of The Kitchen House)

In this brilliant debut reminiscent of William Kent Krueger's This Tender Land and Lisa Wingate's Before We Were Yours, three orphans journey westward from New York City to the Big Sky Country of Montana, hoping for a better life where beautiful wild horses roam free.

Montana 1925: Three brave kids from New York board the orphan train headed west. An Irish boy who lost his whole family to Spanish flu, a tiny girl who won’t talk, and a volatile young man who desperately needs to escape Hell’s Kitchen. They are paraded on platforms across the Midwest to work-worn folks and journey countless miles, racing the sun westward. Before they reach the last rejection and stop, the kids come up with a daring plan, and they set off toward the Yellowstone River and grassy mountains where the wild horses roam.

Fate guides them toward the ranch of a family stricken by loss. Broken and unable to outrun their pasts in New York, the family must do the unthinkable in order to save them.

Nara, the daughter of a successful cattleman, has grown into a brusque spinster who refuses the kids on sight. She’s worked hard to gain her father’s respect and hopes to run their operation, but if the kids stay, she’ll be stuck in the kitchen.

Nara works them without mercy, hoping they’ll run off, but they buck up and show spirit, and though Nara will never be motherly, she begins to take to them. So, when Charles is jailed for freeing wild horses that were rounded up for slaughter, and an abusive mother from New York shows up to take the youngest, Nara does the unthinkable, risking everything she holds dear to change their lives forever.

“From the moment the reader steps on the train with these orphaned children, You Belong Here Now shows how beauty can emerge from even the darkest places.” (Erika Robuck, national best-selling author of Hemingway’s Girl)

“Rostad’s bighearted debut is full of surprises, and warm with wisdom about what it means to be family.” (Meg Waite Clayton, New York Times best-selling author of The Last Train to London)

©2021 Dianna Rostad (P)2021 HarperCollins Publishers

Sweet Story

This author’s debut novel was a sweet story of orphans from New York who landed with a rancher out west. The three were unrelated and overlooked on the orphan train. With trials and tribulations they each had their own story of woe, but came together as a family in the end.

Loved ir

I couldn't get enough of this book. It is amazing! Thank you so much for the wonderful read.

Great book

I really love this book, and it was extra interesting to me because the setting was less than one hour from my own home.

Great Narrator

Wonderful narration, made this story very captivating very exciting.
I really enjoyed the authors style.

I good read

This story was captivating, very enjoyable, and makes me want to hear more stories about these characters.

All the ingredients of a well loved mini series

I was immediately involved in the story and never had to replay the beginning which I often have to do. A good story with justice and horses, and good over evil and family and change and challenge. Very well read with never a slow moment. Loaded with social issues, perhaps to the point of cliché but I most thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it.

It’s all about family.

A well told historical fiction set in Montana. The character development was a bit abrupt, but all in all its a beautiful story of family. Family is what you make; it’s not limited by blood.

Excellent

Fantastic! very hard to put down. Incredible era in history in a place barely written about.

Fantastic listen

I’m pretty sure I felt just about every emotion with this book. I was so mad at the unfairness of it all during part of it that I had to stop and take some calming breaths. Ha. This book is wonderful. I can definitely see it being made into a movie. I just hope they don’t screw it up if they do.

Great story

Loved this story. Hated to turn off the audio, could hardly wait to get back to it