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Where You Belong
by Barbara Taylor Bradford
Product Group: Book
Publisher: Dell (2000-11-28)
ISBN: 0440235154
EAN: 9780440235156
Dewy Decimal #: 813.54
Mass Market Paperback: 464 pages
Release Date: 2000-11-28
SKU: M129430
Condition: New
Comments: 0440235154 MMPB free of markings. Cover shows very minimal shelf wear. This book shows no evidence of having been used; gift quality, pretty. Your book will be carefully protected for transit in sturdy, weather-resistant packaging. We are prompt, efficient, communicative.
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Editorial Reviews
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Product Description
With all the glamour, drama, and passion that have made Barbara Taylor Bradford an international favorite, Where You Belong is the captivating story of a beautiful young woman making her way through a world filled with the dangers of war.
A talented young American photographer, Valentine Denning leaves behind the comforts of her home in Paris to record the war in Kosovo from the front lines. Drawn together by the perils of war photojournalism, Val and one of her colleagues, the British Tony Hampton, find themselves in the throes of a romance that is tragically cut short when Val, Tony, and their American colleague Jake Newberg are caught in a nightmarish ambush. When Val wakes up in a Belgrade hospital, she learns that Tony has died.
Later, when she and Jake attend Tony's memorial service in London, Val's memories of Tony are gravely shaken by the realization that throughout their relationship he had lied, telling her that he was divorced. Reeling from his death and betrayal, Val and Jake return home to Paris, where they recover from their wounds and try to make sense of Tony's lies to both of them. As they begin to build a relationship and leave the events of the war behind them, Jake confesses his longtime love for her.
But for Val, peace with herself is elusive, as she tries to reconcile her love of photography with the perils of her career, not to mention the claims on her heart. The desire for a fresh new beginning leads her to trade the grueling world of war photojournalism for a glamorous position as a photographer of celebrities--which lands her in Mexico, snapping the dashing Alexander St. Just Stevens (born Bill Smith in Leeds, England), an artist of international renown whose reputation as a playboy doesn't steel him against a powerful attraction to Val. Finding a new mode of photojournalism--and a new admirer--still can't ease her sense of searching for something, a sense that will lead her to retrace paths she thought were left behind.
Where You Belong is a moving story about a young woman's realization of her own inner strength and her ability to find her way to where she belongs in life...in love...and within herself.
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Customer Reviews
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Disappointing, could barely finish it
Rating  (1)
Date: 2008-05-06
I read Woman of Substance years ago and loved it... it is still one of my favorite books. I was really disappointed in this book even though it does follow the timeless paperback romance formula... main character has glamourous career and flits through life with no financial worries, barely noticing the Aubusson rugs, silk curtains and priceless antiques that grace every room she enters ... stops eating and shrinks to nothing at the first sign of stress, orders filet of sole for every meal. I liked BTB descriptive style in Woman of Substance, but it gets to be so ridiculous in this book that I felt manipulated as a reader. The main character opens the refrigerated pantry at the luxurious chateau that she is staying at for free, and BTB goes through every item in it, just to have the character fix the classic meal that all of her rich and glamourous characters throw together on the fly, the omelet. (Almost every other author of this ilk has their characters making an omelet or a salad in the unfortunate situation that they find themselves having to scrounge through the fresh, organic contents of a well-stocked refrigerator, or maybe after a brisk walk to the farmer's market since they just happen to be in the South of France) But wait! Just as you were beginning to be a little envious of Val, it comes out that she has a problems, just like you and me. Lying men, mean parents, forced inheritance of a vast fortune that she doesn't want, the agony of making a the decision about how much time to take off after recovering from tragedy... she just doesn't know what to do while sitting in the stately New York apartment that she inherited from her kindly grandparents.
The main problem I had with this book is that I couldn't relate to the character of Val. BTB tries to make the case that Val is a person of integrity by stating it ad nauseum, but the novel starts with Val sleeping with a guy that tells her that his wife is a shrew and they are separated, so when that situation unravels it is difficult to feel the sympathy that BTB tries to generate. I don't have any problem with flawed characters, but if the author is going to state this character has integrity than don't have the character sleeping with someone who is still married, that is pretty basic. I finished the book because I don't like to review books unless I have read them to the end, but this bland tale just didn't do it for me.
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I LIKED IT!
Rating  (4)
Date: 2007-11-26
Wow...I can't believe how many negative reviews this book is getting. I actually listened to it, and that always makes for a book to be at least a bit more interesting. I can see how people would get bored with it, it is long-winded, but how many authors aren't like that?
I think people are just too used to the 21st century non-stop action and/or 3 minute sound bites excitement and drama, and they can't just calm down and listen to a good description of a beautiful house in France or England. I won't be able to go there anytime soon, but the descriptions have definitely transported me right in the heart of those fairy tale homes and landscapes. I think it's time for some of you to go back to the 18-19th century classics and remind yourself of the descriptive pages of those books.
I definitely recommend this book to be listened to by a reckless driver while actually driving. This book has definitely calmed me down and I have become a much responsible driver. Try it!
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Deception Hurts More Than Death.
Rating  (3)
Date: 2006-09-04
While on assignment in the Balkans, Valentine, a war photographer and her co-worker and love, Tony from England (considered as good as the famous Robert Capa), they were caught in the crossfire, and he was killed. She stayed on in Paris as a matter of integrity. As she was recuperating from her injuries, she discovered that he had told her lies to coverup the truth of his background and past. With him gone, she struggled to find a place where she felt that she belonged in this life as she'd already decided not to return home to New York.
She was always on the fun to find her purpose in life. Some secrets break your heart if you let them. Others can set you free. It took some time for her to come to terms with herself and her own unhappy childhood. Her mother had kept an important secret from her also. With Jake, their longtime friend and photojournalist, she could verbally grieve Tony's untimely death and, as in 'The Piano.' she realized that she had loved the wrong man. Fate had intervened and she and Jake were like Eddie and Elizabeth in 1958 after the death of the man they both had loved. It was a question of trust.
After being so deceived by one, could she let down her guard to trust another man. She could keep running from her past or love the man she's with. He is offering her the opportunity of starting a new life with someone w ho truly loves her and is able to understand her deep grief of losing the one she had loved with all her heart. Foolishly, he felt that he is man enough to fill the hole left in her heart and soul. Her inspiration to live had hit the dust, so how can she ever feel complete again. I could not stick a Band-Aid on my psychic wounds and hope they would evenetually heal. Who could deal with a woman like that? She was just a younger vresion of hre irrational mother but not willing to make the same mistakes.
She must now make her own decisions and work out a new life for herself in her career by her own rules. Never underestimate the power of a determined woman and her ability to develop a sudden change of heart. You can love many men; the tragedy is when they don't love you back. Ms. Bradford has written several books about strong women. I loved her first 'A Woman of Substance' and its sequel, 'Hold the Dream.'
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Excruciatingly slow-moving and boring beyond belief!
Rating (1)
Date: 2006-08-10
1 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
I saw on the cover it said something about the New York Times bestseller list, so I kept reading (for a while) since I thought it must have something good in it to get on the list. Well, it never did! It's just a bunch of ridiculous long-winded drivel that couldn't get to the point. The author dragged out the most boring unimportant acts for pages upon pages upon pages, and nothing ever happens. The LONG descriptions are of something like Val whining ad nauseum how she doesn't want to go to this memorial service, or Jake acting crabby on the plane, or how Val sat around for hours looking at Tony's picture in her apartment, etc. Anyway, I don't know how it got on the NY Times list, that's for sure!
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It's Not THAT Bad...Then Again, It's Not Too Good Either.
Rating  (2)
Date: 2006-08-04
0 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
If this is your first Barbara Taylor Bradford book, you may never pick up another one. I, on the other hand, like to give an author the three strikes rule, so won't hesitate to try something else, but it won't be very soon. If you want to read one of her novels, do NOT start with this one like I did. This is very boring--like snails serving as soap stars--not to mention slow and predictable. I listened to the entire thing on cd, but think it was mostly because I liked Ms. O'Karma's narration--she has an appealingly smokey voice like Carolyn Jones from the Adams Family. It still couldn't save this story with its endless self-serving "what-about-ME!" mantras and Valentine's overly moralistic attitude. I'm the same way, and I bore myself!
You knew from page one where this story was going, and the dialog was as insufferable as the descriptions of everything from food and clothing to moths reproducing on peeling wallpaper. "I was a war photographer and my mommy was mean to me" resounds every other page, yet she wants to get away from all of that. Nothing's worse than a character or real person who brags, then turns around and screams "Look at me, look at me...How DARE you look at me?!"
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