Where We Belong by Anstey Harris #BookReview

Cate Morris and her son, Leo, are homeless, adrift. They’ve packed up the boxes from their London home, said goodbye to friends and colleagues, and now they are on their way to ‘Hatters Museum of the Wide Wide World – to stay just for the summer. Cate doesn’t want to be there, in Richard’s family home without Richard to guide her any more. And she knows for sure that Araminta, the retainer of the collection of dusty objects and stuffed animals, has taken against them. But they have nowhere else to go. They have to make the best of it.

But Richard hasn’t told Cate the truth about his family’s history. And something about the house starts to work its way under her skin.

Can she really walk away, once she knows the truth?

Anstey Harris was an unknown author to me but I’m happy that this isn’t the case any more. Sometimes going in with no expectations pays off because Where We Belong pleasantly surprised me. Slowly but surely the story gripped me and I was becoming very invested in the characters and the museum itself. The descriptions of the unprofitable Hatters museum were so vivid that my heart ached and I kind of wish I could really walk along the exhibits and see the majestic elephant and giraffe statues, or the adorable netsuke (miniature sculptures original from Japan carved in ivory) for myself. It wasn’t only the setting that was so evocative and interesting to read about but the characters, Kate and her son Leo also wormed their way into my heart, and I knew there was also more about Araminta than meets the eye.

At first Kate is not very happy to be stuck so far from bubbly London but then she sees her son Leo making friends and she knows it’s not such a bad place after all. Her relationship with Leo and how Cate navigates everything was simply wonderful. Leo is a little different, I won’t say more than that, but I really appreciate that the author introduced him and made me see how Cate and Leo tried to make their life together in this place they didn’t really choose of their own.

There are different hurdles along the way to overcome, there is some disappointment and a few setbacks but the longer into the novel the more I rooted for all of them to create a success of the museum, to have more visitors so they could stay in the house and living quarters above the museum. There’s a strong sense of community in this novel and lots of friends offering a hand so that really gave it a positive vibe.

There’s tragedy and emotional turmoil in this novel as well with scenes providing the background of Richard’s last few weeks, as well as the lifelong secret of Araminta which made me quite sad as she felt the need to keep it for so many decades. The overriding feeling is very much one of contentedness though and in the end Where We Belong seriously warmed my reader’s heart.

I received a free proof copy of this novel (I have to say that I love the cover of my proof more than the cover of the published novel above so if you feel the same then you should still pick it up). This is my honest opinion.

Advertisement