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    This Must Be the Place: A Novel
    This Must Be the Place: A Novel
    This Must Be the Place: A Novel
    Audiobook12 hours

    This Must Be the Place: A Novel

    Written by Kate Racculia

    Narrated by Coleen Marlo

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    The Darby-Jones boardinghouse in Ruby Falls, New York, is home to Mona Jones and her daughter, Oneida, two loners and self-declared outcasts who have formed a perfectly insular family unit: the two of them and the four eclectic boarders living in their house. But their small, quiet life is upended when Arthur Rook shows up in the middle of a nervous breakdown, devastated by the death of his wife, carrying a pink shoe box containing all his wife's mementos and keepsakes, and holding a postcard from sixteen years ago, addressed to Mona but never sent. Slowly the contents of the box begin to fit together to tell a story-one of a powerful friendship, a lost love, and a secret that, if revealed, could change everything that Mona, Oneida, and Arthur know to be true. Or maybe the stories the box tells and the truths it brings to life will teach everyone about love-how deeply it runs, how strong it makes us, and, even when all seems lost, how tightly it brings us together. With emotional accuracy and great energy, This Must Be the Place introduces memorable, charming characters that refuse to be forgotten.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateJul 20, 2010
    ISBN9781400187966
    This Must Be the Place: A Novel
    Author

    Kate Racculia

    KATE RACCULIA is the author of the novels This Must Be the Place and Bellweather Rhapsody, winner of the American Library Association’s Alex Award. She received her MFA from Emerson College and now works for the Bethlehem Area Public Library in Pennsylvania. You can find her at www.kateracculia.com or @kateracculia.

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    Reviews for This Must Be the Place

    3.5/5

    92 ratings21 reviews

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    • 3/5
      (Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted illegally.)The main problem with overedited literary debuts from precocious MFAers, in my opinion, is not that they're bad but rather so damn mediocre; take for example Kate Racculia's recent This Must Be the Place, which would be hard to point at in any particular place and say that it's actively bad, but nonetheless has all the impact of a lukewarm watery noodle being slapped lightly against the wrist. It starts with a nicely dark premise, which is the reason I picked it up in the first place -- that after the accidental death of his goofy special-effects-industry girlfriend in Los Angeles, a genial photographer discovers a shoebox full of artifacts from a troubled childhood she preferred not talking about, which prompts him to make a quiet visit to the small town where so many of his lover's unspoken secrets are buried, staying at a boarding house run by the dead woman's estranged best friend and trying to observe things fly-on-the-wall style for as long as he can get away with it. But the problem with so many of these academic novels based on interesting premises is the same problem here, that all its liveliness has been workshopped right out of it, leaving a Prozaced book that just sort of sits there like a white guy in a beige suit eating a bowl of mashed potatoes; conflicts between characters are dialed down to a dull murmur, while all quirkiness and peril is filtered down to the level of a typical Lifetime cable movie. These books are always worth at least taking a chance on, because you never know when you'll discover a hidden gem, and Racculia for sure is a confident writer who knows her way around a page; but now that she's out of school, it's time for her to sit down and write a book that is uniquely hers, full of the kind of memorable turns that are only hinted at here in her first novel. I look forward to that book, but with this one advise people to proceed with caution.Out of 10: 7.9
    • 3/5
      I was ready to give this book 4 stars until it went on a hundred pages too long. I then couldn't wait for it to end!
    • 3/5
      Another book I would to rate 3.5 stars instead of just 3! It was good but I figured out the 'twist' extremely early on in the book - I thought it was very obvious. But overall, it was a well written book with interesting characters.
    • 4/5
      Kate Racculia's debut novel has a fantastic first half, stumbles a little and then makes it securely across the finish line. Arthur Rook is knocked sideways by the sudden death of his wife. He gathers his wife's shoebox of momentoes and her cat and takes off for her hometown, specifically the boarding house run by her childhood best friend. There he meets Mona and her daughter Oneida, who is dealing with adolescence and with connecting with her peers. Racculia writes with a light and thoughtful tone, respecting her characters and weaving in odd lines of rock lyrics. She does seem to waver towards the end on whether to be coldly rational or sentimental, but she pulls it all out in the end. I do like the cleverness of her writing and will certainly pick up her next book.
    • 5/5
      This is lovely novel about Arthur Rook, a bereft newly-widowed young man searching for some connection to his wife’s past. He finds an old unsent postcard he’s never seen and travels across country to her hometown, where she was raised by her now-deceased grandfather. There he finds a group of characters, especially Mona, the woman to whom the card was addressed, living at a boarding house Mona owns. Mona has a 15-year old daughter, Oneida, precocious and somewhat alienated from her classmates, and we come to know Arthur, Mona, Oneida, and Oneida’s boyfriend all very well, for there are really four main characters here, as well as Amy, the dead wife, who is ever-present. Racculia’s handle on dialogue is superb, and even as I was tempted to read ahead to find out what happens, I was entranced by the language and stayed with the storyline. She shows, doesn’t tell, and when she refers to something from popular culture she allows the reader to follow-up if necessary and doesn’t bog down the story explaining. For instance, when Amy asks him to name one person he hates, he names Hitler (douchebag), the Cigarette-Smoking Man, and Iago. Later he describes his impression of the local vegetation when he was newly-arrived in Los Angeles as waving their triffid fronds. And recalling his childhood: He’d once even dreamed himself onto the bridge of the Starship Enterprise and had been whipped into a froth of anxiety because he was supposed to be on the Millennium Falcon; he was in the wrong universe entirely, and Spock had neck-pinched him to shut him up.The secret Amy was hiding is not a big surprise and isn’t meant to be except to Arthur and some of the other characters. There are hints along the way, and when it’s revealed, it’s the way in which it affects these characters we’ve come to love which is the suspense. This is a wonderful book about loss, love, acceptance and new beginnings. Highly recommended.
    • 4/5
      I wish I could write a helpful review, but I've opened this book several times and never got very far. I do like the heroine, and I like the writing style, but it hasn't pulled me in yet. I expect it will in its own time.
    • 4/5
      Arthur Rook's wife Amy is killed in a workplace accident. Arthur cannot comprehend that she is well and truly gone from his life. In going through her closet, he comes upon a pink shoebox filled with tiny treasures and mementos. And an unmailed postcard from 16 years ago that reads:"Mona, I'm sorry. I should have told you. Anyway I left you the best parts of myself. You know where to look. AmySo Arthur in his grief, set out to Ruby Falls, New York to find Mona and maybe learn more about Amy and the past she never talked about.This Must Be the Place is not really about Amy though. It's about those she left behind - Mona, her daughter Oneida and Arthur. For each of them, Amy played a pivotal role in their lives. As Arthur struggles to come to terms with Amy's death, Mona is forced to confront her past. Secrets long buried can no longer be kept hidden.Kate Racculia's book was a wonderful find for me. There is the mystery of Amy's past, but for me it was the exploration of relationships that I found attractive. Mona and her love for her daughter Oneida. Oneida's complicated coming of age (this was a great subplot) and Arthur and Mona's tentative reaching out to each other and the loss of Amy. The book is populated with marvellously quirky characters that lend an almost enchanted feel to the Darby-Jones boarding house Mona runs. I did guess Amy's secret about halfway through, but it didn't detract from enjoying the rest of the book at all.A great debut by a new voice. I enjoyed Racculia's whimsical, unique tale and characters very much and look forward to her next offering.
    • 4/5
      On the surface the novel is about Arthur and his feelings towards the loss of his wife Amy--the other layer is about Amy, her best friend Mona and the life she lives in her hometown.I liked how the story progressed, showing how Amy and Mona are not as simple as they appear to be. The complexity of their relationship has an interesting balance, but there were more than a few times that I liked Mona considerably more than Amy.It's hard for me to write about this novel without revealing too many details, but I really liked this one. I have a fondness for stories that involve people uncovering secrets in their hometowns and finding their best selves.
    • 4/5
      Arthur Rook, a photographer marries a girl in L.A. named Amy. She dies in a freak accident and his world falls apart. So begins the story of a man who finds a shoebox in the closet with a postcard from his wife to a woman in Ruby Falls N.Y. written thirty years before and never sent. He goes to N.Y. to find this woman who knows everything about his wife 's past. He gets more than he ever bargained for in the process. A wonderful story from a first time author who has definitely left her mark in today's fiction. Can not wait for her next novel!
    • 4/5
      In the beginning of the book, I thought Arthur was going to be the main character. He takes his deceased wife's mementos in a pink shoe box to seek out Mona to find out more about his wife's past. However, after getting more into the book it seems as though Oneida is the main character and it becomes more of a coming of age story. All the characters in this book are not exactly likable but that is okay. Some of the tenants in the Darby-Jones Boarding House are quite peculiar but they do make for an interesting mix of characters. They all seem to be searching for something even though they may not realize it. Mona and Oneida have the classic troubled mother/teenage daughter relationship. Arthur wants to know why his wife left her hometown and never mailed the mysterious postcard. Mona has a secret she is desperate to keep to herself. Oneida is experiencing her first love. The story kept me on my toes. There were some pretty crazy antics going on in the story, but it is not overdone. When I first saw the book, the cover intrigued me! A cat on a suitcase carried by a parachute is interesting to say in the least. By the end of the book I fully understood the cover. And it all started out with Arthur finding a postcard his wife never sent! Brilliant! I will keep an eye out for more from Kate Racculia.
    • 3/5
      This book seemed to be more of a coming of age then anything else. Although the writing was good and the story kept me interested, most of the "secrets" were not hard to guess.
    • 4/5
      This Must be the Place was such a beautiful book. There are so many perfect moments - poignant and sharp, but utterly enchanting. It was hard to read at times, even, when something hit too close or the character's pain was too heartbreaking. The first chapter had me hooked, and then the rest of the book unravelled me.
    • 2/5
      When 32-year-old Arthur Rook’s wife Amy dies unexpectedly, he finds a shoebox filled with her mementos and decides to connect with her past by following the address on an unmailed postcard to the Darby-Jones boardinghouse in tiny Ruby Falls, New York. There he meets the house’s owner/operator Mona Jones, her teenage daughter Oneida, and the boarders at the house. Accompanying storylines, told through alternating points of view, include Mona’s childhood best-friendship with Amy; Oneida’s growing distance from Mona and attraction to Eugene (“Wendy”) Wendell; and Wendy’s coming-of-age in an eclectic family.I’m a dissenting review here: I didn’t enjoy this novel. It substitutes confusion for intrigue; it’s nearly all backstory and reminiscence rather than unfolding action; and the characters and boardinghouse aspect are disappointingly under-developed. The exception is the Wendy storyline -- which, while seeming over-emphasized in the context of this book, is the aspect I enjoyed most: a complex, well-developed character and a story that’s fresh and interesting.(Review based on an advance reading copy provided by the publisher.)
    • 4/5
      Excellent book. Kate Racculia took a story that could have been cliche and gave it new life.Her characters are well-written individuals, just flawed enough to be realistic.I would highly recommend this book:)
    • 5/5
      I really enjoyed this novel. It was filled with interesting, quirky, and vivid characters and they each got to tell their story. We begin with Arthur Rook, who has just lost his young wife, Amy, and when he finds a shoe-box full of mementos, he heads to Ruby Falls. Amy left Ruby Falls when she was just a teenager and Arthur knew little about her life there. But now he wants to know everything so he can keep Amy alive in his memories, though he has started to blur reality and imagination.Mona is a fun-loving singe mom, who adopts the lost Arthur when he comes to stay at her boardinghouse. She doesn't want Arthur to know her secrets but she can't help but fall into the Amy memories.Oneida is brilliant and different. She is a teenager who doesn't care about fitting in. But she knows her mom has a secret and begins to resent the time her mom spends with Arthur. Oneida's story is also a beautiful coming-of age story as she juggles the perils of high school with a first love.And then there is Amy, selfish but loving, creating a world that leaves others out, though she was the center of theirs. We only know her in flashbacks, but the author brings this complicated character to life.This book has everything: romance, mystery, humor, magic, and drama. It is extremely well-written and engaging, slightly off-beat (in a good way) and I highly recommend it.rating 4.5/5
    • 2/5
      I wanted to like it. It felt like a good summer read. Arthur Rook is grieving and dashes across the country to dig up his dead wife's mysterious past. I will say I felt the author succeeded at portraying grief; we feel the impact, the denial, the separation from reality because this, this horrible present, cannot be real. The author also exceeds in showing us the flaws of each character. She has filled the boarding house of the Darby-Jones with yawn-inducing characters. I did not care about the elderly woman (who holds a secret that may have been "shocking" in the 80's, but certainly isn't now in 2010) or the two teachers who lived there. They were pretty one-dimensional. As Arthur works through his grief, he gets to know Mona, a friend of his wife's, and learns about their history. Oneida is her smart daughter. The complexities of mother/daughter relationships are well-portrayed, but in that unrealistic Gilmore Girls way. Hey, I wish it could be that way too. Secrets come out, tragedy occurs, and then everything is tied up in a neat little epilogue. Once you close the cover, characters will pop right out of your mind like cookies off a Silpat.
    • 4/5
      This Must Be The Place is the story of the Darby-Jones Boarding House, the residents, and the grieving Arthur Rook. There are multiple plotlines woven throughout the book. The description makes the book seem a bit more mysterious than it actually is. The pacing didn't work well for me. It seemed to jump around too much. Not a bad read by any means. Just kind of average.
    • 4/5
      Mona Jones and her teenaged daughter Oneida are living a peaceful existence, running the Darby-Jones boarding house and a successful wedding cake business, when their life is disrupted by the arrival of Arthur Rook. Arthur has followed the address on an unsent postcard from his deceased wife Amy to Mona, hoping to find answers to Amy's life before he met her. Unfortunately, Amy's secrets are also Mona's secrets, and Mona is not yet prepared to give them up.This was an easy read, and an enjoyable novel. The twists and turns of the story are all reasonable, the characters are mostly likeable, and it kept me reading for the better part of two days. There was one chapter about a teenaged boy's hormones that I thought was unnecessary, and out of character with the book, but outside of the one chapter, the rest of the book was excellent. I would characterize it as two steps above chick lit, and recommend it highly.
    • 5/5
      Arthur Rook has just lost his wife Amy in a workplace accident and, in his grief and after finding something in her belongings he sees as her "will," he travels from LA to the town Amy grew up in, Ruby Falls, New York. He shows up on the doorstep of the Darby-Jones boardinghouse run by Amy's best friend from high school, Mona Jones. Arthur, Mona, Mona's daughter Oneida, and Oneida's first boyfriend all have a lot to learn about the past and each other, and the lessons are learned the hard way. I absolutely loved this book! The storyline, the characters, the "mystery," which I figured out the basics of early on but there was so much more to it than what I had guessed. Highly recommended for all fiction fans.
    • 4/5
      I had mixed feelings about this book as I read it. I think a narrower scope would have given the story more meaning, but I enjoyed it.Arthur enters the lives of several strangers who are either creeped out or charmed by him at various times through the story. The characters seemed out of sync - Arthur's role in the others' lives was not well defined and disappointingly resolved, plotlines didn't match up like I expected they would. At first it seems Arthur is trying to escape, then he's seeking a truth, then struggling to resolve his past. He was annoyingly apt to dissolve into a puddle when confronted; a trait that was more wimpy than endearing.All the characters are elaborate, possibly too intricate and opinionated to be believable, all more interesting than Arthur. The story was redundant and dwelled on aspects that may have been important to the characters, but were not important to the readers. I wanted to see what came of adolescent sexual frustration and a man's struggle to reinvent himself. But too much of the interesting parts are left to the reader's imagination, too much mundane detail and internal struggle spelled out explicitly.That said, I couldn't put the book down. The atmosphere is engaging and the characters are (mostly) lovable. I can't give it an unconditional recommendation - but anyone who enjoys a large, diverse cast in almost-wacky situations would probably really enjoy it.
    • 4/5
      “this must be the place” is a book well summed up by its title. It’s a story about disparate people ending up somewhere instead of planning on going somewhere. About characters that live their way through the day to day and only when smacked in the face by a major event do they lift their heads and look around.Arthur Rook is one of these characters – unable to function upon the death of his wife, Amy. “Did she have a will?” I don’t know, Arthur said. She liked grapefruit and coffee together for breakfast. “Did she want to be buried or cremated?” I don’t know, de said. She wore his old concert T-shirts to bed and sang him lullabies as Axl Rose (Good night to the jungle, baby!) and Mick Jagger (Hey! You! Get into my bed!).”In an effort to make some sense of his life, of his wife’s past, in an effort to do anything at all, Arthur takes a trip to the town where his wife grew up, and encounters Mona and Oneida Jones, mother and daughter who are if not lost souls, certainly unsure souls.These three characters come together to make a pleasant story about trying to decipher the past, trying to decide on a future. About trying to make choices instead of having circumstances or time decide them for you.“Had this all been the same day? Had everything that just happened occurred in the space of the same twenty-four hours? Some days expand, Mona though; their seams stretch and they hold more than a day’s worth of time. More than a day’s worth of memories old and new.”Time seems to have overwhelmed Mona and Arthur, and the lines between the past and the future blur. Deciding to chart a course instead of drifting along that current, is the hardest choice they have to make.“Arthur saw his futures shimmer before him, saw all the possible places he could go from here: all the houses he could live in, all the jobs he could have, all the people he’d never met but could know for the rest of his life.”Once these three characters encounter one another, it seems pretty evident where the story is headed, what the likely conclusion will be. But the details make it an interesting journey. Arthur, Mona, Oneida and a few others are just different enough to make the encounter an appealing one.“He placed both palms flat on his side of the table and leaned forward; as his dutiful reflection, Oneida followed suit. They met in the middle. He heard, quite clearly and almost certainly only in his own head, the slow synth intro of a Foreigner song, sweet, warm, and sonorous, and not at all ironic.”This story is a bit like that. Not at all ironic, and very sweet.