Book Summary and Reviews of You Belong Here Now by Dianna Rostad

You Belong Here Now by Dianna Rostad

You Belong Here Now

A Novel

by Dianna Rostad

  • Published:
  • Apr 2021, 368 pages
  • Rate this book

About this book

Book Summary

USA Today bestseller and award-winning debut! Immersive and stunning! Reminiscent of This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger. For readers who loved The Orphan Collector by Ellen Marie Wiseman, Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens, and Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate.

Montana 1925: Three brave kids from New York City board the orphan train headed west. An Irish boy who lost his family to Spanish flu, a tiny girl who won't talk, and a volatile young man from Hell's Kitchen. Across the land, they are paraded on platforms to work-worn folks and journey countless miles, racing the sun westward.

After they are rejected at each stop and nearing the end of their journey, the oldest boy, Charles comes up with a daring plan, and they set off toward the Yellowstone River and grassy mountains where the wild horses roam.

Nara has sacrificed and scrubbed away every bit of her femininity to manage her family's stock operation in a male-dominated world. So, when her parents take in three mysterious orphans, she wants nothing to do with them and works them without mercy, hoping they'll run off.

As the orphans settle in and take refuge in the pines and chalky buttes of Big Sky country, their dark histories aren't far behind. To save the kids from their cruel and violent pasts, the family must do the unthinkable.

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $60 for 12 months or $20 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Reviews

Media Reviews

"This intricately plotted, deeply researched debut ranks among the best of the "Orphan Train"-themed novels and polishes the Western novel to a new radiance. Picture Charles Dickens on an Appaloosa for a fusion of two classic genres." —Library Journal (starred review)

"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 bestselling 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 bestselling author of The Kitchen House

This information about You Belong Here Now was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

Reader Reviews

Click here and be the first to review this book!

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $60 for 12 months or $20 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Author Information

Dianna Rostad

Dianna Rostad is a USA Today Bestselling author. Born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, she is passionate about volunteering and spends time at home reading, playing with Bennee her dog, and loves to garden and grow flowers. Dianna raised three children, and when they began to test their wings, she took to writing with a passion, completing the Southern Methodist University Writer's Path program in 2009. A favorite task of her creative endeavors is the discovery and research of people and places where her novels are set. She has traveled extensively to pursue the last artifacts of our shared history and breathe life, truth, and hope into her novels. Her debut novel You Belong Here Now is a USA Today bestseller and was shortlisted for Reading the West's Debut Fiction Award 2022 and a 2022 WILLA Literary Award Finalist for Historical Fiction. Dianna writes big-hearted novels for wide audiences everywhere.

More Author Information

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $60 for 12 months or $20 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Read-Alikes

Read-Alikes Full readalike results are for members only

If you liked You Belong Here Now, try these:

  • One of Us jacket

    One of Us

    by Dan Chaon

    Published 2026

    About this book

    A playfully macabre and utterly thrilling tale about orphaned twins on the run from their murderous uncle who find refuge in a bizarre traveling carnival, from a master of literary horror.

  • Lost Children Archive jacket

    Lost Children Archive

    by Valeria Luiselli

    Published 2020

    About this book

    From the two-time NBCC Finalist, an emotionally resonant, fiercely imaginative new novel about a family's road trip across America--an indelible journey told with breathtaking imagery, spare lyricism, and profound humanity.

  • The Great Alone jacket

    The Great Alone

    by Kristin Hannah

    Published 2019

    About this book

    From the author of The Nightingale, comes a story of a family in crisis and a young girl struggling to survive at the edge of the world, in America's last true frontier.

We have 10 read-alikes for You Belong Here Now, but non-members are limited to three results. Join free to see the complete list of recommendations.
Search read-alikes
How we choose read-alikes

More Historical Fiction

Browse all Historical Fiction books

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $60 for 12 months or $20 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!
Win This Book
Win Theo of Golden

Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

One spring morning, a stranger arrives in the small southern city of Golden. No one knows where he has come from…or why…

Enter

BookBrowse Book Club

  • Book Jacket
    Merry-Go-Round Broke Down
    by David Woo, Margalit Shinar
    Nine linked stories reveal how globalization sparks life-changing consequences across continents.
  • Book Jacket
    Chelsea Girls
    by Catherine Lloyd
    A glamorous biographical novel on Mary Quant, whose daring design of the miniskirt revolutionized fashion.
  • Book Jacket
    Days of Sun and Shadow
    by India Hayford
    A young woman’s coming-of-age story set in the early American frontier, shaped by tragedy, nature, and resilience.

Members Recommend

  • Book Jacket
    An Infinite Love Story
    by Chanel Cleeton
    “A tender, romantic drama that soars as high as it’s astronauts.” —Kate Quinn
  • Book Jacket
    Summer of Love
    by Kerri Maher
    Three women reshape their family's Napa Valley winery after the 1967 Summer of Love.
Book
Trivia
  • Book Trivia

    Can you name the title?

    Test your book knowledge with our daily trivia challenge!

Wordplay

Solve this clue:

The C is A R

and be entered to win..

Your guide toexceptional          books

BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.