This Must Be the Place

Our book of the month for May is an addictive and unforgettable novel of a marriage in freefall, shortlisted for the Costa Novel Award 2016. This Must Be the Place by Maggie O'Farrell crosses time zones and continents to reveal an extraordinary portrait of a marriage. 

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 20 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?

"A complex, riveting novel of love and hope that grips at the heart" The 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" Observer

Maggie O’Farrell was born in Northern Ireland in 1972, and grew up in Wales and Scotland. She now lives in London with her family. Her debut novel, After You’d Gone, was published to international acclaim and won a Betty Trask Award, while her third, The Distance Between Us, won the 2005 Somerset Maugham Award.

This Must Be the Place is published by Tinder Press and is available online and from all good booksellers. If you do receive a free copy, we need you to add your questions and comments for Maggie to the thread by the end of May.