Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

This Must Be the Place by Maggie O'Farrell

9 reviews

jesssalexander's review against another edition

sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

There was entirely too much going on here!! Too many characters, too many plot lines, and too many flashbacks and scene and perspective changes. And, differently, too many heavy topics all jammed in! 

I thought this was going to be a fun read about a quirky movie star turned recluse and her family in Ireland but actually it’s mostly about a middle aged man with substance abuse issues who ruins his future while trying to reconcile his past. 

My two favorite scenes centered around Marithe, Daniel’s youngest daughter. There is a moment when she is grieving over her half-brother’s departure for boarding school and she is mean to her pet chicken. I can’t remember exactly what she and Claudette say to one another but I remember thinking it was so poignant. Also later when she is reflecting on her own adolescence and crossing over into adulthood and says this: “To never feel that again, that idea of yourself as one unified being, not two or three splintered selves who observed and commented on each other.”
Everything was so well put. Like she could never be that child again who was wholly present and fully doing one thing. It was a neat conceptualization.

I thought it was interesting that one of the main motifs of the novel was Daniel’s impotence when attempting to form relationships with his children. First there is the abortion he doesn’t want his girlfriend to have, then his ex wife thwarts all his attempts to connect with his first two kids, then the senseless gun violence, and lastly Claudette imposes a separation from his last two kids when his drinking gets out of control. I suppose part of his redemption arc is how he finally bonds with Niall. I’ve been puzzling over why the reader roots for Daniel— he’s pretty objectively terrible, he cheats on his girlfriend the day after her abortion— and I guess it has to do with this motif. He wanted so bad to have a relationship with his kids so you end up wanting things to work out for him.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Gun violence, and Infidelity

lauratoline's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Another fabulous story of family from Maggie O'Farrell. Lovable but flawed characters who you will root for.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Infertility, Infidelity, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Mental illness, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Medical content

allison_f_2023's review against another edition

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility and Infidelity

abbie_'s review

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

4.25

If you’re looking for your next engaging family drama (heavy on the drama) then may I suggest Maggie O’Farrell’s This Must Be The Place? This was my fifth of O’Farrell’s works and my second favourite so far after Hamnet. It follows a wide cast of characters across several intertwined families, touching on things like fame, divorce, infidelity, forgiveness, with plenty of skeletons in closets! The two main characters are Claudette and Daniel, but we hear from basically all the ‘supporting characters’ in their lives - however briefly their lives might have intersected. For the most part this works really well, I love seeing different facets of a character revealed by a different view point. But there was one chapter near the end where I think O’Farrell got a bit carried away, including too much detail from a minor character’s life which muddied things a bit - preparation for a different novel perhaps? The insight into her process for this novel at the end was fascinating, as she wanted to take the linear narrative and chop it up, which she does, but it’s still very easy to follow I thought! Her writing is clear, engaging and emotive, and I found myself devouring huge chunks at a time. I think it’s a good one to read if you’re feeling slumpy, as it’s got that addictive quality!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Medical content, Grief, and Abortion

alice2000's review against another edition

hopeful reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Alcoholism, Child death, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Infertility, Infidelity, Abortion, and Death of parent

chris_reads's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Abortion

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Infertility, Infidelity, Medical content, and Death of parent

Minor: Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Gun violence, and Panic attacks/disorders

garlinds's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I always forget how much I love family sagas until I pick one up. In this novel, Maggie O'Farrell weaves together the relationship between Daniel and Claudette in such a beautiful and heartbreaking way. 

I fell in love with the characters and their complexities, despite the frustration they caused. I enjoyed how the chapters of this book read like a series of interwoven short stories as each character crossed paths with one another, offering a fresh perspective to the story. And though I got a bit mixed up as the story jumped back and forth in time, I liked how the book explored how our pasts are linked to our futures.

Thank you to @fictionmatters for selecting this as the May book club pick! As always, last weekend's discussion took my reading of this book to a whole new level.

This was my first Maggie O'Farrell, and it certainly won't be my last!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, and Abortion

Moderate: Addiction, Child death, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Infertility, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

Minor: Animal cruelty, Infidelity, and Miscarriage

womanwill's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, Cursing, Death, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, and Pregnancy

emilylovesbooks's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, Infertility, Infidelity, Abortion, and Death of parent