Short Synopsis
A sudden death, a never-mailed postcard, and a long-buried secret set the stage for a luminous and heartbreakingly real novel about lost souls finding one another.

Full Synopsis
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.

"The audiobook shifts seamlessly among the four distinct points of view." ---Kirkus Audio Review

"This Must Be the Place makes for a lively read as it explores the themes of friendship, love, loss and forgiveness.... The author creates subtle moments of poetry by way of everyday objects and lives." ---Los Angeles Times

"A thoroughly enjoyable first novel, both accessibly absurd and quite touching." ---Publishers Weekly

"Racculia...has constructed a strong, complicated story that we readily believe in." ---The New York Times

"Boston-based Racculia has packed enough emotion, personality, and deft writing into her debut novel to power this small town.... A treasure." ---Library Journal Starred Review

"Intelligent, warm-hearted and tough-minded---Racculia is a talent to watch." ---Kirkus Starred Review

Library Journal Review

Kirkus Review