Daniel Sullivan leads a complicated life. A New Yorker living in the wilds of Ireland, he has children he never sees in California, a father he loathes in Brooklyn, and his wife, Claudette, is a reclusive ex–film star given to pulling a gun on anyone who ventures up their driveway. Together, they have made an idyllic life in the country, but a secret from Daniel’s past threatens to destroy their meticulously constructed and fiercely protected home. Shot through with humor and wisdom, This Must Be the Place is an irresistible love story that crisscrosses continents and time zones as it captures an extraordinary marriage, and an unforgettable family, with wit and deep affection.

My Review: 

First of all I’d like to warn potential readers that this is a novel that has many characters, all fully developed. It also has several time lines which jump back and forth.  Some will not care for this.  Although a few times I found it disconcerting, I found that each character was written with such empathy that while reading their story I didn’t want their tale to end.  My favourite scenes though, were those set in the rural Donegal landscape.

Daniel Sullivan, the protagonist of this novel is a multi-faceted character. He is a tall, larger than life American. The only boy in a family of strong women, he has grown to appreciate women – sometimes too much so…  He is the hub of the story.  All the other characters are strategically important peripherals – they are all relevant to Daniel and his extraordinary life.  His college friends, his girlfriends, his children, his mother, his wife.

“Daniel was one of those people whom others follow”.

They all have such an impact on Daniel – and the story, that I wouldn’t know how to begin to summarize the plot for you (which is why I included the publisher’s summation in this instance).  Just know that Daniel is fabulous – though not without some rather serious flaws.  He is a linguist. His love of words and the English language would endear him to me right from the start. He is a charming womanizer – though to be fair he often doesn’t seem to realize this himself.  He loves deeply. He is an amazing father. He is also prone to substance abuse and is riddled by guilt… He never really got over the death of his mother.

I want everyone to read this book!  The characters…. well they are so REAL.  Claudette, the beautiful movie star who has escaped run away to a remote house in Donegal. A house so remote that there are twelve farm gates that need to be opened and then shut again if you want to drive the half a mile it takes to get to the road. A woman of relentless energy, a passionate lover and an amazing mother to her children whom she home-schools.

“Whatever had happened, she had pulled off the thing that people of her ilk must dream about all the time: she’d left her life, she’d pulled the plug, she’d disappeared. And I had found her.”

Ari, Claudette’s oldest son. A boy whose dibilitating stutter is soothed by Daniel’s interest and his attempts at speech therapy.

Claudette’s brother Lucas and his wife Maeve – and the effect of childlessness on their lives.

Teresa, Daniel’s mother – and a secret, forbidden love.

In America, Daniel has left behind a son and a daughter after losing a custody battle with his first wife. Niall, Daniel’s oldest son, who lives with a serious case of exema. So much so that he must bandage his body to keep from scratching himself raw. Phoebe, Daniel’s eldest daughter, a beautiful smart girl with a fierce and unadulterated love for her brother Niall.

Then, there are Daniel and Claudette’s two children, Marithe and Calvin. Marithe who is the doppleganger of her American half-sister, Phoebe. Calvin, still a baby.

All is going well, until Daniel hears a familiar voice on the radio. His past sins come back to haunt him. He takes himself off to investigate his own past not knowing that this act will forever change his life.  It will destroy his marriage and instigate a downward spiral…

This is the story of an unforgettable family. Of love, of loss, of tribulation. Of fate life.