Goed boek, waar wel wat kleine minpuntjes in zitten. Het is het verhaal van Martha, moeder, oma en echtgenote. Er zijn in het verleden nogal wat vreemde dingen gebeurd en Martha heeft ook wel een rare beslissing genomen.
David, haar man komt uit een gewelddadig gezin en dat heeft ook hem voorgoed beïnvloed.
Als Martha besluit om haar tachtigste verjaardag te vieren met een groot feest en een lunch met haar hele familie, heeft ze zich voorgenomen om de waarheid te vertellen of een aantal gebeurtenissen in het verleden. De hele familie is gekomen om dat aan te horen, maar het valt niet overal even goed. De geheimen zijn te groot voor sommige en de familie raakt onderling verdeeld.
Ik vond het vooral af en toe erg vaag, met verwijzingen die erg onduidelijk zijn. En waar ik ook niets van kon maken. Het boek leest wel lekker als je dat buiten beschouwing kan laten. ( )

In A Place for Us by Harriet Evans, the Winter family reunites after receiving their invitations for matriarch Martha's eightieth birthday celebration. The mysterious message included with the invitation causes a bit of a panic with each of the invitees due to their fear that their secrets are about to be revealed. This sprawling novel weaves back and forth between past and present and despite the sometimes slow pacing, it is an intriguing read.

As the story opens, Martha has decided the time for keeping secrets is over and in spite of her husband David's plea to reconsider, she is quite firm in her decision. Each of the family members are worried about the upcoming revelation but they all know they must attend the party.

Their son Bill is the only child still living in the local area and while he is not overly concerned about what Martha is about to share, his wife Karen is afraid that she knows what Martha has to say. Daughter Florence is mildly curious and at first she has doubts about returning home from Italy, but a personal and professional betrayal changes her mind. Daughter Daisy has lived in India for years rarely returning home and no one really expects her to show up for the party. Granddaughter Cat (Daisy's daughter) moved to Paris years earlier and after a failed relationship, she distanced herself from the rest of the family. Bill's daughter Lucy is struggling to keep her job and her suggestion to write an article about her family is met with excitement by her boss and dismay by her family.

Each chapter is written from a different character's perspective, so crucial background information is slowly revealed about their lives, both past and present. While Bill has a successful medical practice, his second marriage is beginning to falter and his wife Karen is becoming more and more dissatisfied with their union. Florence is a renowned professor of art history and she is shocked to discover her ex-lover is trying to oust her from her teaching position. Angered by his betrayal, she finally decides to return for Martha's party and at the same time, she begins court proceedings against him. Daisy remains a rather enigmatic figure but it is clear that she is deeply troubled and that her family has very good reasons to fear her return. Cat is struggling financially and although she has serious reservations about returning home, at the last minute she decides to attend the party but no one is prepared for the changes in her life since her last visit.

The first half of the novel is a little slow moving and some of the time shifts are a little confusing. The chapters are clearly marked so it is easy to keep up with which character is currently "speaking" but some of their timelines switch mid-paragraph as they reminisce about different events in their lives. Each of the characters is well-developed with a distinct voice and their lives, both past and present, are quite fascinating. The pacing of the story picks about halfway through and the last half moves much more quickly as secrets are revealed and their lives become more entangled as they are reunited through tragedy.

A Place for Us is an emotional family saga with a complex storyline and a cast of interesting characters. Harriet Evans brings the setting and characters vibrantly to life and although the storyline is somewhat somber, the conclusion is quite upbeat and positive. All in all, it is a lovely character driven story with a unique plot and endearing characters. ( )

This is my last read book of 2016 and I thought it was just perfect to finish up a very good reading year for me. I read this book until 2:30 in the morning and then couldn't wait to get up and finish it this morning. This book was on my list of must read books and while I usually make a note of who recommended a book or where I heard about it, I had no notes on this book. But, no matter, I'm glad it was on my list! Martha wakes up one morning and decides it's time to get her family together to let them know some truths that she has kept hidden for years. She decides her 80th birthday would be the perfect time for this party. This is one of those family sagas and you start off in the present but also spend a lot of time going back into the past and see how things happen. A very lovely book with a lot going on! Happy New Year! ( )

Great 1st paragraph! Hung on waiting to see what secret Martha was going to disclose at her 80th birthday party. It came unexpected, but not what I would have foreseen. Good story with plenty of family secrets and dysfunctional family characters ( )

A Place for Us by Harriet Evans is a portrait of the Winters family. Beneath the beautiful surface of this family are the secrets that show how tenuous a seemingly solid family structure can be. The book changes voices chapter to chapter and skips through different time periods. It's not bad; it's just too much of a good thing and would benefit from the idea that sometimes less is more.

Read my complete review at: http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2015/05/a-place-for-us.html

Reviewed based on a publisher’s galley received through NetGalley ( )