Oh this book is the kind of book that makes me happy to be a reader. The kind of book that takes you through various encounters and little moments in characters’ lives that span years, decades, countries, continents. 

Daniel, an American linguist, is in Ireland when he comes across a young boy by himself by the side of a road in a remote area. He leads Daniel to his mother, who’s struggling to change a tire. She happens to be Claudette Wells, an actress who at the height of her career, disappears from a movie set and hasn’t been seen since. And this is the story of Claudette and Daniel, their children and stepchildren. 

The story is told from multiple points of view, from different time frames, even different countries. This doesn’t always work in some books but in This Must Be The Place, it does. It’s like putting together one of those jigsaw puzzles where each puzzle piece is a complete shape in itself. Each chapter is complex and satisfying, even the minor characters like a woman whom Daniel meets on a bus in South America. She’s so well created and whole that I felt like I knew her in just a few pages. 

What an absolutely satisfying read this was.