Book Synopsis:
A moving and courageous exploration of belonging and finding home in a rapidly-changing world from the critically acclaimed author of Shelter.
Jo grew up in the Forest of Dean, but she was always the one destined to leave for a bigger , brighter future. When her parents retire from their butcher’s shop, she returns to her beloved community to save the family legacy, hoping also to save herself. But things are more complex than the rose-tinted version of life which sustained Jo from afar.
Tessa is a farrier, shoeing horses two miles and half a generation away from Jo, further into the forest. Tessa’s experience of the community couldn’t be more different. Now she too has returned, in flight from a life she could have led, nursing a secret and a past filled with guilt and shame.
Compelled through circumstance to live together, these two women will be forced to confront their sense of identity, and reconsider the meaning of home.
How To Belong is available in ebook and hardback now. You can purchase your copy using the link below or from your local indie bookstore.
Book Synopsis:
How To Belong is a beautifully written, engrossing story about friendship and what it means to belong. I was a huge fan of this author’s first book so I was very excited to see what she came out with next.
The story is told in alternating chapters from the point of view of Jo and Tessa. I warmed to these two characters quickly and felt a lot of sympathy towards them as I have been in a similar situation. It’s hard to return to your home town and find everything altered or that everyone has moved on. I thought the author did a great job of describing the feelings the two girls must have felt. They seemed very real to me and I wished that I could reach into the book and give them both a hug at times.
This isn’t a particularly fast paced book but it is a very engrossing one and quite a poignant one at times as we watch the two characters trying to find their place in the community. I enjoyed seeing the two woman become closer and giving each other the support they both needed.
Overall I really enjoyed this heartwarming read which had a lovely message at it’s centre of its never to late to find your place in life. I grew very fond of the two main characters and I felt very involved in their lives. I wanted to keep reading to find out how things ended up for them.
Huge thanks to Tracy for inviting me onto the blog tour and to Zaffre for my copy of this book via Netgalley.
About The Author:
Sarah Franklin grew up in rural Gloucestershire and has lived in Austria, Germany, the USA and Ireland. She lectures in publishing at Oxford Brookes University and has written for the Guardian, the Irish Times, Psychologies magazine and The Pool.
Over The Rainbow Blog 
I’m glad you enjoyed the book as much as I did (although I confess Shelter edges it for me because of the historical setting). Many of the points in your review echo my own thoughts.
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Yes I must admit i did prefer shelter too as I love historical fiction! I thought afterwards I should have said it was a unique story too but hindsight is a great thing hey!
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