Where We Belong [Kindle Edition]

Emily Giffin (Author)

Book Description

The author of five blockbuster novels, Emily Giffin, delivers an unforgettable story of two women, the families that make them who they are, and the longing, loyalty and love that binds them together

 

 

Marian Caldwell is a thirty-six year old television producer, living her dream in New York City. With a fulfilling career and satisfying relationship, she has convinced everyone, including herself, that her life is just as she wants it to be. But one night, Marian answers a knock on the door . . . only to find Kirby Rose, an eighteen-year-old girl with a key to a past that Marian thought she had sealed off forever. From the moment Kirby appears on her doorstep, Marian’s perfectly constructed world—and her very identity—will be shaken to its core, resurrecting ghosts and memories of a passionate young love affair that threaten everything that has come to define her.

 

For the precocious and determined Kirby, the encounter will spur a process of discovery that ushers her across the threshold of adulthood, forcing her to re-evaluate her family and future in a wise and bittersweet light. As the two women embark on a journey to find the one thing missing in their lives, each will come to recognize that where we belong is often where we least expect to find ourselves—a place that we may have willed ourselves to forget, but that the heart remembers forever.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“In another surefire hit, [Giffin] serves up pathos, humor, and one doozy of a twist.”—Entertainment Weekly

“Sharply drawn characters and finely honed sensibility add up to a story that’s as bittersweet as an August evening.”—Family Circle

“Book clubs will have a field day with this one. Thorny mother-daughter relationships and secrets we keep from loved ones burn up the pages.”—USA Today

“After five charming relationship-themed hits, Emily Giffin had a lot to live up to with WHERE WE BELONG. Luckily, the author executes with a thoughtful finesse that makes this easily her best work yet. [WHERE WE BELONG] is that special type of story that takes priority over getting to bed on time. And the payoff is well worth it.”—Boston Globe

“Emily Giffin ranks as a grand master. Over the course of five best-selling novels, she has traversed the slippery slopes of true love, lost love, marriage, motherhood, betrayal, forgiveness and redemption that have led her to be called ‘a modern-day Jane Austen.’ With Giffin’s use of humor, honesty, originality and, like Austen, a biting social commentary, this modern-day ‘woman’s novel’ sits easily on nightstands and in beach bags. Even Austen would find it hard to put down.”—Chicago Sun-Times

“Emily Giffin’s new novel about the legacy of adoption, WHERE WE BELONG, imagines what happens when an 18-year-old girl tracks down her birth mother…the latest in a string of provocative, imaginative novels that began in 2004 with SOMETHING BORROWED. All the characters [here] are on a journey to find ‘where we belong,’ and Giffin knits together their journeys with a masterly hand.”—Seattle Times

“Emily Giffin’s WHERE WE BELONG is a literary Rorschach test. The book, while thoroughly entertaining, will also prod readers to examine choices they’ve made in their lives. It will compel them to muse about things they’d like to do over, to do differently, to do better…[and] gracefully examines themes of identity, family and forgiveness.”—Miami Herald

“Giffin has a way of tugging on our heartstrings while still making us laugh out loud...[a] perfect recipe.”—Woman’s World

“Breezy and fun, this is definitely one for the beach bag!”—All You magazine

“Giffin’s latest will make you shed a few tears – and call your mom.”—Ladies Home Journal

About the Author

Emily Giffin lives in Atlanta with her husband and three young children.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• File Size: 477 KB
• Print Length: 383 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1409114473
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press; Reprint edition (July 24, 2012)
• Sold by: Macmillan
• Language: English
• ASIN: B0071NMK66
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Enabled
• Lending: Not Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #584 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
  • #61 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Contemporary
  • #67 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Women's Fiction
  • #72 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Women's Fiction > Contemporary Women

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

61 of 76 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars ***UNPUTDOWNABLE!!!****** June 2, 2012

By Dana Y. Bowles VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

Marian Caldwell appears to have the perfect life. She is a successful producer of a hot TV show, she has a rich successful boyfriend and a fast-paced lifestyle in the Big Apple. But everything is not always as it seems....and a knock on the door of her Manhattan penthouse one evening reminds Marian of exactly that.
Kirby Rose has never felt as though she fit in with her family...and the knowledge that she was adopted, though never a secret, seems to be rearing it's head more often as of late. A conversation overheard between her parents is the final straw; Kirby sets off on her own to meet her birth mother, and changes the lives of everyone....

Where We Belong is a story about the choices we make, and the reasons we make them. An 18-year-old Marian made choices many years ago....to create a life that she thought that she wanted. Kirby's timely visit helps her to see that sometimes what we think we want may not be what makes us the happiest....

I've read all of Giffin's work, and this may quite possibly be my favorite. Fabulous plot, never a dull moment...and readers will love the non-conventional Kirby Rose.

-DYB

129 of 172 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Struck a nerve. June 10, 2012

By Ladybug

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

This was an unexpectedly emotional read for me. Like Kirby, our young, slightly-misfit protagonist who seeks out her birth mother when she turns eighteen, I also recently sought out a birth parent--my father. Of course my experience meeting him was not exactly like Kirby's experience meeting her mother (I'm pretty sure if he had bought me Prada shoes, I would have kept them...), but I have to give Giffin kudos for accurately portraying the feelings of awkwardness, relief, sadness, disappointment, and re-abandonment that come up when an adult child meets a birth parent for the first time--as well as that feeling of displacement, of not quite fitting in with an adopted family, that can lead a child to want to reconnect with the absent parent (the "missing part") in the first place. It is a complicated encounter, not something I would expect Giffin to understand without firsthand experience. Maybe she has been through something like that, maybe she hasn't. All I know is that I found Kirby's feelings accurate, relatable, and compelling.

To be fair, I realize that not everyone will have this strong of a reaction to Where We Belong. Honestly, in general, the writing is typical Giffin: interesting, but quick and light. Nothing overly complicated or deep. Even if all problems aren't solved, by the end of the book, the reader knows that everyone is going to be okay. But that isn't a bad thing, if you know what you are getting into. And I still really appreciate Giffin's willingness to move away from the typical love-triangle plot and tackle a slightly more messy, nuanced situation.

Bottom line, this book is really good easy reading. It's catchy. Within the first few pages, you are hooked, and I guarantee you won't be able to put it down until you reach the end.

32 of 41 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The best so far! August 22, 2012

By Katy Brown

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I absolutely loved this book. Emily Giffin's books, while they may contain some of the same characters, are never a boring read. She clearly feels involved with her characters and is able to make you feel a connection to them as well. This novel is no exception, especially considering how many characters she manages to make you connect with. It is a fantastic read and all of the negative reviews should be ignored that are about the author's character. I think she's great, but regardless, that has nothing to do with if her books are good or if she is a talented writer. I just hope there is a sequel!

More About the Author

Emily Giffin is a graduate of Wake Forest University and the University of Virginia School of Law. After practicing litigation at a Manhattan firm for several years, she moved to London to write full time. The author of six New York Times bestselling novels, Something Borrowed, Something Blue, Baby Proof, Love The One You're With, Heart of the Matter, and Where We Belong, she lives in Atlanta with her husband and three young children. Visit www.emilygiffin.com.

Amazon Author Rankbeta 

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#66 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Contemporary Fiction

#85 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Contemporary

#66 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Contemporary Fiction

#85 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Contemporary