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.

 "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

"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 has a wonderful way with words. [WHERE WE BELONG] is an emotionally powerful story that will ring true with women who have given a child away and with those who grew up wondering where they came from. Giffin may be working with a premise and plot that is fairly simple, but there’s nothing lightweight about the emotional turbulence she creates." —Ft. Worth Star-Telegram

"A breezy, yet compelling read." —Atlanta Journal-Constitution

"Emily Giffin is back with another must-read summer novel!" —Harper’s Bazaar

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

"[WHERE WE BELONG] delivers the readable, addicting prose we have all come to love [but] delves deeper than ever before, showing that the author is capable of making her signature style work with topics beyond typical relationships. Through Marian, her daughter and the rest of those affected by Marian’s decisions, the author beautifully tackles the complex issues of sex, abortion, adoption and the difficult decisions that go along with each." —Woodbury magazine

"Believable characters, [a] page-turning plot and [an] unblinking look at the choices we make as women." —WeightWatchers magazine

Joanna, BTW Club, Cleveland Heights, OH

1. How might Marian’s life been different if:
   
   
   
   • She told Conrad and had an abortion?
   
   
   • She told Conrad and kept the baby?
   
   
   • She told Conrad and still gave the baby up for adoption?
   
   
   
   


2. How might Kirby’s life had been different had Marian decided to keep her?


3. Do you think Marian’s decision to tell no one other than her mother about Kirby was a good decision?


4. What alternate ending might you have given the story?

Jo, StARs Book Group, Staten Island, NY

1. Kirby has a birth family and an adopted family.  There are many types of families, whether related biologically or not.  Who do you call family?  How do you make the determination to include or exclude someone from your family?


2. The title of the book is Where We Belong.  Where do you belong?  How did you decide where you belong?  What makes you feel like you belong? 


3. What did you think about Marian’s decision to keep her pregnancy a secret from Conrad?  Was he right to be upset when he found out he was a father 18 years after the fact?  Do expectant mothers have an obligation to inform the father?  Why or why not?


4. Marian made some difficult choices in her life – to keep her pregnancy a secret from her father, to break up with Conrad, to give Kirby up for adoption, etc. Think about the difficult choices you have had to make in your life. Did they turn out to be for the best, or did you end up regretting them?


5. What did you think about the choices Marian’s parents made and the secrets they kept over her pregnancy?  Similarly, what did you think about the reactions Kirby’s parents had over her finding Marian?


6. Marian chose to give birth.  Do her experiences with that choice make you more or less empathetic to women who make other choices in the same situation?  Explain.


7. The choices we make have a ripple effect and ultimately impact all areas of our lives. How did Marian’s choice to hide her pregnancy affect her relationships and future choices?


8. Kirby inherited her musical ability from Conrad and his mother. Discuss your thoughts about the effects of nature versus nurture on personality.


9. Conrad tells Marian he hates what she did, but he’s trying not to hate her.  Have you ever felt that way about someone?  How did you deal with your feelings?  How do you go forward when someone you love betrays you?


10. After Kirby passes her pre-calculus final, she thinks she might go to college after all.  She considers the downside and concludes, “What’s the worst that could happen?” Then she wonders what would have happened had she allowed the downside of meeting Marian to stop her.  When have you not allowed the downside of a challenge to stop you?


11. Discuss Belinda’s stealing the prom dress.  Why do you think Giffin includes what seems to be a side topic in the book?


12. Where do you see the relationships among Kirby and her two sets of parents in five years?  What makes you think that?


13. Giffin told this story by alternating chapters from Marian and Kirby’s points of view.  Did this style of writing enhance or impede your reading and understanding of the story?


14. How does this book compare to other Emily Giffin books you have read?  What is it about her writing that keeps you coming back?

Terry, Middletown #1 Ladies Book Club, Middletown, RI

1. Do you see a parallel between Marian’s mother and Kirby’s adoptive mother?  What about the relationship between Kirby’s adoptive father and her biological father?  Is there a connection there?


2. How is Marian’s relationship with Peter impacted by the addition of Kirby in her life?


3. How do you view Marian’s decision to give Kirby up for adoption without even telling Conrad about her pregnancy?  Did she have that right?  How might this story have been different if Conrad was aware of Marian’s pregnancy?

Susan, Friday Morning Book Club, Owings Mills, MD

1. Why do you think Marian lied to Conrad about the pregnancy test results? Was the fact that Conrad was not planning to go to college a factor? What do you think would have happened if she had told him the truth?


2. Do you think Marian made the right decision when she gave her baby up for adoption? Was she being selfish or selfless?


3. Why do you think Marian updated her contact info every year? Although she never even admitted it to herself did she hope that her daughter would find her one day?


4. Why was Marian so driven? Was she trying to prove to herself that she did the right thing? Was she burying herself in her work?


5. Was Peter correct when he accused Marian of never dealing with the fact that she gave her baby away?


6. Why do you think that Marian’s father was so much more willing to accept Kirby than Marian’s mother?


7. Conrad admits to Kirby that Marian was the love of his life. Was Conrad the love of Marian’s life?


8. If Kirby had not come along would Marian and Peter have gotten married? Do you think it would have lasted?


9. Where do you think “the current” will take Marian?

Jennifer, Ladies Night Book Club, Richmond, VA

1. What do you think would have happened if Miriam had told Conrad about the baby when they were eighteen?  Would the result (adoption) been the same?


2. Do you think that Miriam’s mother was right in telling her father about the baby?  Why do you think that she is so cold to Kirby?


3. Kirby thinks that she is treated differently or looked at differently by her adoptive parents in comparison to her sister, who is their natural child….do you think that is truly the case?  If so, why?

*These are book club generated conversation starters from our ARCs for ARCs programs