Description

A top-ten bestseller 2016, shortlisted for the Costa Novel Award, THIS MUST BE THE PLACE by Maggie O’Farrell crosses time zones and continents to reveal an extraordinary portrait of a marriage. ‘A complex, riveting novel of love and hope that grips at the heart’ The Sunday Times

A reclusive ex-film star living in the wilds of Ireland, Claudette Wells is a woman whose first instinct, when a stranger approaches her home, is to reach for her shotgun. Why is she so fiercely protective of her family, and what made her walk out of her cinematic career when she had the whole world at her feet?

Her husband Daniel, reeling from a discovery about a woman he last saw twenty years ago, is about to make an exit of his own. It is a journey that will send him off-course, far away from the life he and Claudette have made together. Will their love for one another be enough to bring Daniel back home?

Publisher Review

A tour de force, a complex and nuanced story leaping effortlessly across multiple characters and time frames... destined to be one of the most acclaimed books of 2016 -- Hannah Beckerman, Author of The Dead Wife's Handbook A magnificent novel that is perceptive, profound and page-turning in equal measures. There are few things I look forward to like a Maggie O'Farrell novel and she never disappoints -- Cathy Rentzenbrink, author of The Last Act of Love An utterly compelling story which loops between decades and the hearts of its characters with enormous warmth, wit and poignancy. -- Isabel Costello This Must Be The Place is her best yet ... At the heart of this smart, structurally interesting but never over-clever novel is the story of a relationship ... If she was a man she'd be Man Booker-shortlisted, as it is she'll have to settle for just being brilliant * The Pool * A conjuror's sleight of hand... a deft and compelling chronicler of human relationships * Guardian * In the final pages, however, we are allowed to slow right down, to savour the culmination of everything that has come before, and to remember just how gifted a storyteller O'Farrell truly is * Irish Independent * O'Farrell's seventh novel is as captivating and as intricately written as her previous offerings * Closer * Fans will not be disappointed * The Times * No character is wasted, no word misspent... The reach is dazzlingly epic, the tone addictively accessible. In awe. * Grazia * Deftly blurring the lines between holiday read and literary fiction, it's bound for the bestseller lists * Stylist * One of the most enjoyable and satisfying books of the year * Daily Express * A complex, riveting novel of love and hope that grips at the heart... It will leave you bereft and wanting more * Sunday Times * Exquisite... exceptionally accomplished and emotionally sophisticated'... 'O'Farrell is tremendously sure-footed at wrong-footing the reader * Scotsman * Her best so far... epic but intimate too * Glamour * The result is dazzling, her most accomplished book yet * The National * She has, throughout her career, shown a willingness to experiment with form that many commercially successful writers wouldn't dare to do, as well as a willingness to explore difficult subject matter... epic and intimate * Herald * Maggie O'Farrell's new novel is beautiful... [an] epic endeavour to build a portrait of a relationship in its whole, contrary and complex plurality... the reader is won over, and rapt * i Newspaper * Some books are for lingering over. Every sentence Maggie O'Farrell writes is so perfectly formed that you want to wallow in it. As a writer, she's perceptive, warm and particularly good at the nuances of family relationships. In This Must Be The Place, she casts her sharp but humane eye on a marriage in trouble * Good Housekeeping * I haven't read a Maggie O'Farrell novel I didn't love and This Must Be The Place might be her finest work yet... A beautiful, ambitious triumph * Red Magazine * A new Maggie O'Farrell book is always a cause for celebration, but her seventh is so brilliant that you'll want to unfurl flags and put up bunting in her honour... Wonderfully written and absolutely addictive * Psychologies Magazine * For all that it whizzed about across times zones and continents, it is seamless and each character is fantastic at the next * Metro * There is tragedy in the novel, but also sharp comedy, and O'Farrell, skilful as ever, plays with the novel form... In this rewarding and humane novel, O'Farrell brings alive the destructive effects of petty betrayals that affect everyone every day * Sunday Express * A magnificent novel that is perceptive, profound and page-turning in equal measures. There are few things I look forward to like a Maggie O'Farrell novel and she never disappoints -- Cathy Rentzenbrink, author of The Last Act of Love Switching seamlessly between decades, destinations and voices, it's complex in scale, but is carried off with dazzling grace. A rich, engrossing feast of a novel to lose yourself in * Sunday Mirror * Beautifully executed; a graceful, insightful exploration of a relationship in all its wonders and woes * Mail on Sunday * Inventive, moving and hilarious. I loved it -- Rachel Joyce A symphony of stories and voices... absolutely gripping... A rare talent to enthral... It will leave you bereft and wanting more * Sunday Times * A tour de force, a complex and nuanced story leaping effortlessly across multiple time frames... THIS MUST BE THE PLACE is that 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 emotional insight 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 * Observer *