Click Here To Purchase Belong To Me

Author: Marisa de los Santos

ISBN: 978-0-06-124027-0

Published by Harper Collins

In ‘Belong to Me” author Marisa de los Santos touches on the universality of humanity. Although we are all different, we share the same basic yearnings, an innate desire for friendship, a place in which we belong, a search for truth and a way to make sense out of chaos. Clashes and struggles result from the manner in which we respond due to our unique personalities and characteristics.

In essence, de los Santos creates a cast of characters who very familiar to us. We could find them in any neighbourhood in North America going through the same challenges we may very well face at some point in our lives. They are confronted with loss, grief, birth and happiness and the transitioning roles of childhood to adulthood to parenthood. Within this story we encounter characters who lie, others who are betrayed by those deceptions and the fallout after secrets are revealed.

And yet these characters who could be any of our neighbours, with their secret longings and dreams, are not the cookie-cutter stereotypes they may first appear. De los Santos has fleshed them out into fully formed human beings, complete with fortes and flaws. In taking them beyond their superficial social surfaces, the author reminds us of what it means to be human.

The title itself is very revealing about the theme of the novel, which is not only belonging to and possessing others, but also feeling comfortable in one’s own skin and recognizing one’s own strengths and weaknesses. The characters who seem the most content in their lives are those who know and accept themselves; they do not hide behind a social mask or a life they have created for themselves out of a desire for acceptance.

In this novel, de los Santos has written an amazing story about the evolving nature of what it means to be part of a family, which is made up of those to whom we are bound by blood ties and those with whom we choose to spend our lives. It will make you appreciate the relationships in your own life.

Click Here To Purchase Belong To Me

The above review was contributed by: Mary Simmons: Mary is an avid reader who is currently writing a family saga following three generations of women. She has worked as a reporter and is presently occupied with freelance writing and editing a doctoral thesis. Mary also reviews for other sites. Click Here to read Mary's reviews.