This Must Be the Place

An irresistible love story, an unforgettable family. Best-selling author Maggie O'Farrell captures an extraordinary marriage with insight and laugh-out-loud humor in what Richard Russo calls "her breakout book." Perfect for readers of Where'd You Go, Bernadette. 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 pulling a gun on anyone who ventures up their driveway. Claudette was once the most glamorous and infamous woman in cinema before she staged her own disappearance and retreated to blissful seclusion in an Irish farmhouse. But the life Daniel and Claudette have so carefully constructed is about to be disrupted by an unexpected discovery about a woman Daniel lost touch with twenty years ago. This revelation will send him off-course, far away from wife, children, and home. Will his love for Claudette be enough to bring him back? "O'Farrell's prose manages to be both intimate and expansive and keenly perceptive in its insights about the complexities of marriage. Beautiful and bittersweet, THIS MUST BE THE PLACE will make O'Farrell's longtime fans swoon while prompting new readers to wonder why they've only just discovered her." --BookPage "I have been a huge fan of Maggie O'Farrell's novels for years. She writes with tremendous clarity and poise and in THIS MUST BE THE PLACE you are invested in what happens to Daniel and Claudette from the moment you meet them. A joy to read." --Jane Green "Inventive, moving, and hilarious. I loved it." --Rachel Joyce, best-selling author of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry

About the Author :
MAGGIE O'FARRELL is the author of six previous novels, After You'd Gone; My Lover's Lover; The Distance Between Us, which won a Somerset Maugham Award; The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox; The Hand That First Held Mine, which won the Costa Novel Award; and Instructions for a Heatwave, which was short-listed for the Costa Novel Award. She lives in Edinburgh.

Review :
"Maggie O'Farrell writes novels in which you can happily lose yourself. She is fascinated by women who refuse to conform, by the secrets withheld even from our nearest and dearest, and by the unpredictable, serendipitous nature of life, the way a chance encounter can change everything and come to feel inevitable... Lushly emotional... This Must Be The Place is an intensely absorbing saga." --Heller McAlpin, NPR "Few contemporary writers equal Maggie O'Farrell's gift for combining intricate, engrossing plots with full-bodied characterizations... Tantalizing...Propulsive ...Heartbreaking... This Must Be the Place matches its predecessors for sheer reading pleasure and engagement" --Wendy Smith, The Washington Post "O'Farrell is an enormous talent and her latest novel is her best one yet... O'Farrell's prose sparkles. This book is a total delight." --J. Courtney Sullivan, Vulture "This Must Be the Place may be her best work to date...an intricate and emotional jigsaw puzzle whose pieces interlock in immensely satisfying--and startling--ways... Beautiful and bittersweet, This Must Be the Place will make O'Farrell's longtime fans swoon while prompting new readers to wonder why they've only just discovered her." --BookPage "I have been a huge fan of Maggie O'Farrell's novels for years. She writes with tremendous clarity and poise and in This Must Be the Place you are invested in what happens to Daniel and Claudette from the moment you meet them. A joy to read." --Jane Green "Inventive, moving, and hilarious. I loved it." --Rachel Joyce, best-selling author of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry "The scenario is glamorous, the writing is stylish, the globe-trotting almost dizzying, but there is a satisfying core of untampered emotion as well....juicy and cool, this could be O'Farrell's U.S. breakthrough." --Kirkus Reviews, starred review "A magical story...when it ends, the reader is stunned and grateful." --Publishers Weekly, starred review -Maggie O'Farrell writes novels in which you can happily lose yourself. She is fascinated by women who refuse to conform, by the secrets withheld even from our nearest and dearest, and by the unpredictable, serendipitous nature of life, the way a chance encounter can change everything and come to feel inevitable... Lushly emotional... This Must Be The Place is an intensely absorbing saga.- --Heller McAlpin, NPR Maggie O'Farrell writes novels in which you can happily lose yourself. She is fascinated by women who refuse to conform, by the secrets withheld even from our nearest and dearest, and by the unpredictable, serendipitous nature of life, the way a chance encounter can change everything and come to feel inevitable Lushly emotional This Must Be The Placeis an intensely absorbing saga. Heller McAlpin, NPR " Maggie O'Farrell writes novels in which you can happily lose yourself. She is fascinated by women who refuse to conform, by the secrets withheld even from our nearest and dearest, and by the unpredictable, serendipitous nature of life, the way a chance encounter can change everything and come to feel inevitable Lushly emotional "This Must Be The Place"is an intensely absorbing saga. Heller McAlpin, "NPR"" Maggie O Farrell is a hugely gifted, sympathetic, and ambitious writer, and"This Must Be the Place"deserves to be her breakout book. Richard Russo Inventing, moving, and hilarious.I loved it. Rachel Joyce, best-selling author of "The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry" The scenario is glamorous, the writing is stylish, the globe-trotting almost dizzying, but there s a satisfying core of untamperedfeeling as well juicy and cool, this could be O Farrell s U.S. breakthrough book. "Kirkus Reviews," starred Praise from the UK: Stylistically, narratively, emotionally, This Must Be the Place is a tour de force, a complex and nuanced story leaping effortlessly across multiple characters, continents and time frames .This Must Be The Place is a rare literary beast: both technically dazzling and deeply moving. It has all the structural and temporal playfulness of a Kate Atkinson novel while retaining the hallmark of emotional intensity for which O Farrell has become renowned. It is her best novel to date, a book that surely confirms her as one of the UK s most assured, accomplished and inventive storytellers. "The Guardian" Complex in scale, but carried off with dazzling grace. A rich, engrossing feast of a novel to lose yourself in. "Sunday Mirror" There is tragedy, but also sharp comedy, and O Farrell, skillful as ever, plays with the novel form rewarding and humane. "Sunday Express" Dazzling, her most accomplished book yet. "The National" Beautifully executed a graceful, insightful exploration of a relationship in all its wonders and woes. " Mail on Sunday" Her most ambitious novel to date, crisscrossing the Atlantic and three decades, and told from multiple perspectives, This Must Be the Place is one of the summer s most anticipated reads. "Sunday Times" A new Maggie O Farrell book is always a cause for celebration, but her seventh is so brilliant you ll want to unfurl flags and put up bunting in her honor .wonderfully written and absolutely addicting. "Psychologies Magazine""