You Belong Here Now

A Novel

De: Dianna Rostad

Narrado por: Courtney Patterson

“It’s so hard to believe that this is a debut novel! It’s an historic novel. Talk about hitting me on so many good points.” (John Busbee, The Culture Buzz, weekly on KFMG.org)

“Set against the harsh backdrop of Montana, You Belong Here Now is a novel as straightforward and powerful as the characters who populate it. I love this book, and I guarantee you won’t find a finer debut work anywhere.” (William Kent Krueger, New York Times best-selling author of This Tender Land)

“You Belong Here Now distills the essence of the American spirit in this uplifting story. Perfect for book clubs looking to discuss the true meaning of family.” (Kathleen Grissom, New York Times best-selling author of The Kitchen House)

In this brilliant debut reminiscent of William Kent Krueger's This Tender Land and Lisa Wingate's Before We Were Yours, three orphans journey westward from New York City to the Big Sky Country of Montana, hoping for a better life where beautiful wild horses roam free.

Montana 1925: Three brave kids from New York board the orphan train headed west. An Irish boy who lost his whole family to Spanish flu, a tiny girl who won’t talk, and a volatile young man who desperately needs to escape Hell’s Kitchen. They are paraded on platforms across the Midwest to work-worn folks and journey countless miles, racing the sun westward. Before they reach the last rejection and stop, the kids come up with a daring plan, and they set off toward the Yellowstone River and grassy mountains where the wild horses roam.

Fate guides them toward the ranch of a family stricken by loss. Broken and unable to outrun their pasts in New York, the family must do the unthinkable in order to save them.

Nara, the daughter of a successful cattleman, has grown into a brusque spinster who refuses the kids on sight. She’s worked hard to gain her father’s respect and hopes to run their operation, but if the kids stay, she’ll be stuck in the kitchen.

Nara works them without mercy, hoping they’ll run off, but they buck up and show spirit, and though Nara will never be motherly, she begins to take to them. So, when Charles is jailed for freeing wild horses that were rounded up for slaughter, and an abusive mother from New York shows up to take the youngest, Nara does the unthinkable, risking everything she holds dear to change their lives forever.

“From the moment the reader steps on the train with these orphaned children, You Belong Here Now shows how beauty can emerge from even the darkest places.” (Erika Robuck, national best-selling author of Hemingway’s Girl)

“Rostad’s bighearted debut is full of surprises, and warm with wisdom about what it means to be family.” (Meg Waite Clayton, New York Times best-selling author of The Last Train to London)

©2021 Dianna Rostad (P)2021 HarperCollins Publishers

Sweet Story

This author’s debut novel was a sweet story of orphans from New York who landed with a rancher out west. The three were unrelated and overlooked on the orphan train. With trials and tribulations they each had their own story of woe, but came together as a family in the end.

Interesting story.

I read some of the other reviews and was surprised at their strong feelings about stuff I didn’t even notice. Woke?! Bad language?! News to me. It was an interesting story with a happy ending. Good enough for me. I probably wouldn’t listen to this one twice but I would be interested in other books by the same author.

Good book

excellent. true to life on a cattle ranch. good family story. either did her homework

What a great story

Highly recommend. An interesting story well written that I couldn’t put down. Can’t wait for her next book

All the ingredients of a well loved mini series

I was immediately involved in the story and never had to replay the beginning which I often have to do. A good story with justice and horses, and good over evil and family and change and challenge. Very well read with never a slow moment. Loaded with social issues, perhaps to the point of cliché but I most thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it.

I good read

This story was captivating, very enjoyable, and makes me want to hear more stories about these characters.

Great Narrator

Wonderful narration, made this story very captivating very exciting.
I really enjoyed the authors style.

YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE RELATED BY BLOOD YO BE A REAL FAMILY…

This was a terrific story! Stories often start out slow and I sometimes wonder if I’m going to stick with a book. This wasn’t the case with this book. This book grabbed from the very first page.

Life in Montana in the 1920’s is harsh. It’s harsh in New York too, especially if you are an orphan like Charlie, Patrick and Opal. With no parents and no home of their own, you end up in an orphanage and then on the Orphan Train, a last ditch effort to find a place for kids who nobody seems to want.

The train stops at numerous stops throughout the state, where the children disembark and families look at each orphan, as if looking to buy a new horse. It’s a humiliating experience that happens over and over. Some families open the children’s mouths to check their teeth. Others just make a “yes” or “no” decision without any interaction with the children at all. The Orphan train is where the giant boy Charlie, the intellectual Irish boy, Patrick, and tiny little girl, Opal meet.

The three children, being fed up of being on display, decide to jump off the train. They end up at the Stewart ranch. This is where the really story gets underway.

I highly recommend this book — the story can be enjoyed by everyone in the family.

Good

Family isn’t always blood. Nice story about family, love, acceptance, forgiveness. Hatred prejudice, justice being struggles and doing what is morally right even though the law may state differently, is always worth standing up for.

Great book

I really love this book, and it was extra interesting to me because the setting was less than one hour from my own home.