May book club - This Must Be the Place

I really enjoyed this book once I had got into it.I was interested in all the characters and especially the dynamics of the extended family and how they all looked out for each other. It was often like reading a short story within a novel and all the different geographical settings enhanced the atmosphere especially Donegal .I would like to know more about Zhilan ,Rosalind, Sophie and Daniel's Mum.The only character I disliked was Nicola Janks probably because of the unnecessary abortion. The ending was a bit abrupt and so I am looking for a sequel hopefully

Thank you for a copy of Maggie O'Farrell's latest novel. I have enjoyed many of her previous books and believe 'This Must Be the Place' to be her best so far. An exceptionally epic rich story packed full with fabulous characters. A joy to read.

Mine arrived a while ago but it has taken me this long to get through it. I must agree with other readers that the book jumps around too much and I couldn't keep up with the changes, having to keep going back to work out who was who and where they fitted into the story.
The actual storyline was good and I enjoyed that aspect but why do so many authors today use this technique of jumping about!

Mine has arrived, I've started it but am finding it heavy going. It jumps around too much and I found I was losing g the thread of what was happening. I have given up but will pick it up again in a couple of days and give it another go.

Thank you for the book "This must be the place" by Maggie O'Farrell. I have enjoyed several of her books in the past. I felt that the book took rather a long time to get started but once into it I enjoyed the various twists and turns.It was skillfully written.

I have enjoyed the storytelling in this book. There are great descriptions and strong characters. Like other Gransnetters, I found the jumps around in time very difficult to follow and this didn't make me want to carry on reading at the expense of leaving the gardening and housework, like a good book usually does. It has taken me a long time to read through as far as half-way. I will persevere and finish the story but I do feel that it's hard work and would have prefered to read it in chronological order, looking forward to what might happen next. It has affected my thoughts about recommending 'This Must be the Place' to anyone. I'd like to ask Maggie what influenced her decision to write in this style.

The caferul and considered review I posted yesterday evening seems to have disappeared .... second attempt.

Second or even fourth attempt is what it took to get into the book. The time swaps didn't help (this seems to be a very popular device at the moment) and I'm not entirely clear what the confused chronology was supposed to achieve. I was driven to make notes to keep track. As others have said, I read in the evening before I go to sleep - maybe that added to my confusion.

I thought her previous books made for more compelling reading.

It took me a while to get used to the style, with all the time jumps, but I think it was very cleverly put together. I enjoyed it very much once I'd adjusted to the different time spans. I agree with another poster who felt the story was more about Daniel than Claudette, and of his life battles. Some readers felt that the character Rosalind was a bit superfluous, but to me, she was another cog in helping Daniel to move forward with his life and help him realise, in part, what he needed to do to sort things out.
I want to ask Maggie if she has any plans to develop the character of Rosalind in another story at some point, because I think she has a very interesting story of her own to tell. To me, she is there almost as a carrot to dangle to the reader - "will she, won't she have her own story to tell?" I rather hope so!
I'm so glad I persevered with this book, and I will look out for more of Maggie's books.

I loved the book, and think Maggie O'Farrell is a brilliant story teller. I have now passed it on to my sister in law, who says she's enjoying it too. I'd like to ask Maggie if she's working on a new book, and if so, when can we expect it.

This isn't a book to dip in and out of. I struggled with it until I had a period of quiet when I could read for a sustained period. I'm not saying I understood at times, but generally I was better able to hold the pieces of the character and story jigsaws together in my head. I really wanted to appreciate this book but for me the
time jumps were confusing and I often had to remind myself or the origin of a character or their part in the story. I am sad to say I could only give it 7/10 for enjoyment. I will read more by this author just to see if I can get the hang of her writing style. I suspect my struggles say more about me than they do about the author.

Since 2002 I have kept a record on my computer of books I've read giving the author, title, date read and marks out of 10. I see I have read 4 of Maggie O’Farrell books giving them 5/10 to 7/10
I’m afraid this one will only get 5/10. It took me a long time to get into it and I had to constantly recap. Got confused with the characters and didn’t always find them believable.

Please excuse the superfluous "that" and "many" should be "may" in the final sentence.

I'm really looking forward to getting into this book, especially as others seem to have struggled with it. I was lucky enough to get the previous book and have only just finished it (I'm a slow reader because I invariably fall asleep reading it and have to re-read large parts the next night!)
Thank you so much for the opportunity to get these books - I've enjoyed books that I would never have chosen off the book shop shelves - long may it last!

Couldn't get into it!
Sorry

I have not read any of Maggie O'Farrell's previous novels so I came to "This must be the place" with no expectations. Although it took me a while to get into the noveI, I found the characters convincing and I loved their flawed complexity from Daniel to Claudette to their children and families. I particularly loved Daniel and, as a linguist myself, his thought processes were recognisably like mine at times. With a similar family background to Claudette, I also recognised elements of her life, notably the perfect Parisian mother! The descriptive passages certainly captured the time and place depicted. However, I did find that the "architectural" aspect of the novel's structure sometimes confusing . Aspects seem to overcomplicate and over-populate the "building" of the novel. Did we need to know about the adoption of a Chinese baby by Lucas and his wife, for instance? Did we need to meet and learn about Rosalind? I understand why the authour did this, but am not sure that it was necessary for the cohesion of the story of Daniel and Claudette. Less is more at times, as the Parisian mother-in-law might have suggested.

All things considered, however, a clever and captivating novel with memorable characters and beautiful depictions of places and times both in physical and spiritual aspects. Thank you for introducing me to Maggie O'Farrell. I many well be one of the very few readers who, despite having heard of her, never read her work because I didn't think it would appeal. But appeal this novel certainly did!

I have to say I struggled with this book with the constant changing of time or character. Like many people, I suspect, I tend to do my reading in bed at the end of the day and generally read several chapters of a book at a time but found I was only reading one as I was held back each time trying to work out how it fitted into the story so far.
My question for Maggie O'Farrell is this. The idea of showing Claudette's backstory via an auction catalogue was great in principle and an original idea but I wonder if she is happy with how it appeared in print. I found the text unclear and the illustrations very difficult to decipher even when looked at again in daylight.

This book unfortunately was not for me. I started it and was so disheartened that I left it and then had another go almost a week later. However it didn't get any better. The characters were very well described and it was easy to conjure up a clear picture of them but the story seemed very disjointed and I didn't like the way it jumped around.

I have loved all Maggie's previous books but I'm afraid I just could not get on with this one. I understand that as an author you must sometimes have a change of style, so maybe this will appeal more to people who have never read any of Maggie's previous books.
On a good note, I loved the description of the reclusive star, and could see her hiding out in plain sight etc, but I didn't feel empathy for the characters the way I usually do .

I absolutely loved this book. I love the way the characters and their stories are woven together and have already recommended to all my friends! I would like to ask Maggie whether the eczema storyline was based on her own experiences with her daughter (I read about this in an interview in the paper a while back) I'm assuming so - and if this is the case was it more painful or cathartic to commit to paper in the novel?

I'm glad I'm not the only one Ladygracie. I am persisting but I am finding it hard going with all the jumping in time and person.

I started this book and read a few chapters and found it hard going, I picked it up about a week later and had to start all over again.

I didn't enjoy it, it was too disjointed and the characters didn't feel at all real to me.

About two thirds through I thought 'if this had been a library book I would have given up ages ago'.

I have struggled with this book. I found the continuity a problem as I tried to keep track of what stage the characters were at and I thought it jumped around too much for easy reading.

I found Rosalind a bit pointless and we never got to the bottom of her character. The story seemed a little thin to me and,dare I say it,it got a bit boring and some chapters could have been pruned without affecting the narrative.

I'd like to ask Maggie if Claudette was modelled on anyone (Greta Garbo?) or is she a composite of spoiled filmstars?

I am going to be careful not to include spoilers in my review, as I can see that not many people have posted on this thread recently. It took a while for me to get into this book, because of the frequent changes in focus but as I got further into the story I enjoyed it more. I thought at first the story was going to be about Claudette, but actually I thought it was more about Daniel, and I wonder if the author would agree with me.
I liked the way the various threads were drawn together over time and how each part affected the whole. Half way through reading this I was at a family wedding and it made me reflect on how many stories contribute to our family story.
I also felt that the importance of our children was an important
highlight. I appreciated the author's notes at the end reflecting on how she had put the story together. I wasn't familiar with this author, but I will certainly look out for her other novels.

Mine arrived a few days ago and I'm thrilled. Maggie O'Farrell is my favourite author. Are you likely to set one of your books in Northern Ireland Maggie? I know you come from NI, and it's where I live.

Mine arrived last week and it took over my weekend. When you get used to the skipping about hither and yon in time and place it is a page turner. I was going to give up as I became disconcerted by the time warps! However I persevered and am glad I did. What a journey with Claudette! Question for Maggie: what gave you the idea for the auction catalogue chapter? That is unique and such fun!! No spoilers here for the rest of you! I hope you enjoy it and don't give up, but continue to the end?