This Must Be The Place
By Kate Racculia
Henry Holt and Company July 2010
368 pages
ARC won from Kristin at Always with a Book
Arthur Rook is devastated when his wife Amy dies in an
accident. Not knowing where to turn, he finds a postcard from Amy that was
never sent and travels across the country to deliver it to its intended
recipient. When he arrives at the Darby-Jones boardinghouse, he can’t find the courage
to tell Mona Jones that her childhood friend is dead. As he becomes close to
Mona, her daughter Oneida, and the other residents in the boardinghouse, he
finds parts of Amy that he never knew to search for.
Author Kate Racculia has crafted a beautiful tale of grief,
secrets, and chances missed and found in her debut novel. The novel fell flat
for me in certain places, though. While Mona and Arthur were well-crafted
characters, I did not want to spend so much time with our teenage protagonists.
Oneida becomes friends with and then romantically involved with a boy from school
known as Wendy. The point of view switches between the four characters and I felt that
neither Oneida nor Wendy needed so many pages. They came across as angsty teen
archetypes and rarely felt like real people with developed motivations.
However, I loved the way Amy came to life despite the fact
that she is dead when the novel opens. We don’t get to see anything from her
point of view; rather she is recreated through the love and memories of the
people who knew her. The relationship between Arthur and Mona, as they decide
which secrets and experiences they can share, is tentative and heartbreaking. I
found myself cheering on these two characters whose lives had both been touched
in indelible ways by the same woman.
Kate Racculia has written a beautiful debut, displaying a meticulous
care for her characters and an intrinsic understanding of the ways in which
relationships can both enrich and complicate our lives. I started this novel expecting some light chick lit, but was pleasantly surprised by the depth and heart displayed within its pages. I hope to see many more
books from this talented writer.
This book sounds interesting. I hadn't heard of it before now. I'll have to put it on my reading list.
ReplyDeleteI'm always happy to increase someone's to-be-read list. :)
DeleteIt's always good when you expect light chick-lit but the book delivers more than that.
ReplyDeleteIt is nice when a book surpasses your expectations.
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