Skip to main content

This Must Be the Place

Review

This Must Be the Place

I read a lot of books. My “to-read” shelf is usually so stuffed that as soon as I close the cover on one book, I open the cover on the next (after pausing to write a review, perhaps). Rarely do I find myself entertaining the impulse to reread a book, especially one that I’ve just completed. But upon finishing Maggie O’Farrell’s THIS MUST BE THE PLACE, that’s exactly what I want to do. It is so well crafted --- so exquisite in its construction, prose and emotional heft --- that I find myself wanting to read it again, to continue marveling at what she has created in this multifaceted family drama.

At the novel’s opening, we meet middle-aged Daniel Sullivan and his eccentric, beautiful wife, Claudette. They live in a tumbledown cottage in rural Ireland with their two young children, and other than Claudette’s hilariously unexpected overreaction to what she perceives as a stalker on their property, they seem to have an unremarkable marriage and family life. But as the book begins to open up and circle outwards from the small moment with which O’Farrell kicks off her story, readers start grasping the complexities and complications that characterize Daniel and Claudette’s (and perhaps every?) marriage.

"THIS MUST BE THE PLACE is one of those rare novels (for me at least) that deserves, if not demands, a second reading."

It turns out, for example, that Claudette is so fiercely protective of her family’s privacy because she was, at one time, a famous Hollywood actress and filmmaker. Crippled by repeated infidelities and the pressures of fame, she escaped from her creative partner and lover (and the father of her oldest child) by faking her own drowning and setting up a new life for herself in Donegal. Daniel also harbors secrets stemming from old loves, one of which comes bubbling to the surface when he hears an archival interview with his ex-lover on the radio and learns that she died decades earlier. Daniel grows obsessed with the circumstances of her death and his own possible connection to it. In subsequent chapters, O’Farrell explores how this loss and others carry ramifications for future relationships and future happiness.

This is the first book by Maggie O’Farrell that I have read. Based on the reputation of her earlier work, I was prepared for the novel to be thoughtful and well-written, but I was surprised by how funny it was, whether in biting commentaries or in wry observations on daily absurdities. The chapters in THIS MUST BE THE PLACE begin in 2010 and then travel forward and backward in time, offering multiple viewpoints --- not only Daniel’s and Claudette’s but also their children, siblings, and professional and personal acquaintances. Some chapters are more experimental, such as one that tells a whole story through an illustrated list of items from Claudette’s past that are up for auction. Others read like perfectly self-contained short stories that nevertheless contribute strongly to the whole.

Throughout, perfectly chosen details point to moments of significance that are often not recognized by the reader until dozens of pages later, which is just one of many reasons why THIS MUST BE THE PLACE is one of those rare novels (for me at least) that deserves, if not demands, a second reading.

Reviewed by Norah Piehl on July 29, 2016

This Must Be the Place
by Maggie O'Farrell

  • Publication Date: May 16, 2017
  • Genres: Fiction
  • Paperback: 400 pages
  • Publisher: Vintage
  • ISBN-10: 0345804724
  • ISBN-13: 9780345804723