Where Love Goes

by Joyce Maynard

Claire is "pushing forty with a short stick." She's divorced and raising two teenagers in a small town where just about everybody else is married. Claire longs for companionship, romance, and passion. She's tried blind dates, answered the personals. She's still looking.

When Claire meets Tim -- also divorced, struggling to raise his own daughter, Ursula -- she believes she's found the perfect partner and lover. But as Tim and Claire work toward joining their families and building an intimate life together, their families clash in a never-ending battle for attention and Ursula resents Claire, and Claire's children hate Ursula. When Ursula wreaks a unique and deadly vengeance on everyone, her mother suddenly shows up after a two-year absence and both families spin out of control. "I used to think you and I could make a family together," Claire tells Tim. "Now I feel I'm losing the family I had."

Where Love Goes is a poignant and stirring story about a woman's brave attempt to remake her life. Maynard writes realistically -- at times comically, at times lyrically -- about the issues women deal with the conflict between sexuality and domesticity, how to be a good enough mother and still survive professionally, and how to find passion and enduring love along the way. Her new novel will ring with truth and hopefulness for anyone who has ever loved, lost, and decided to try again.

Genres: Fiction

338 pages, Hardcover

First published April 27, 1993

About the author

Joyce Maynard first came to national attention with the publication of her New York Times cover story “An Eighteen-Year-Old Looks Back on Life” in 1973, when she was a freshman at Yale. Since then, she has been a reporter and columnist for The New York Times, a syndicated newspaper columnist whose “Domestic Affairs” column appeared in more than fifty papers nationwide, a regular contributor to NPR. Her writing has also been published in national magazines, including O, The Oprah Magazine; Newsweek; The New York Times Magazine; Forbes; Salon; San Francisco Magazine, USA Weekly; and many more. She has appeared on Good Morning America, The Today Show, CNN, Hardball with Chris Matthews, Charlie Rose, and on Fresh Air. Essays of hers appear in numerous collections. She has been a fellow at Yaddo, UCross, and The MacDowell Colony, where she wrote her most recently published novel, Labor Day.

The author of many books of fiction and nonfiction, including the novel To Die For (in which she also plays the role of Nicole Kidman’s attorney) and the bestselling memoir, At Home in the World, Maynard makes her home in Mill Valley, California. Her novel, The Usual Rules—a story about surviving loss—has been a favorite of book club audiences of all ages, and was chosen by the American Library Association as one of the ten best books for young readers for 2003.

Joyce Maynard also runs the Lake Atitlan Writing Workshop in Guatemala, founded in 2002.

Reviews

[DeB · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok, all of the recent accolades for Joyce Maynard have been swirling around this grey cloud of memory, hesitantly recalling an unfortunate novel read by this author long ago...and as a result, abandoned until her latest book, Under the Influence, has been waving like a bright starter's flag here on GR. No clouds...

But yes, THIS was the Maynard novel that I did read. I was going through divorce myself. The novel did little to inspire my faith in the future, and it appears that I missed what was meant to have some pathetic irony. Not her best book, too bad for me.

Onward ho! I'm ripe to be Under the Influence...

[Dana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ponder this a moment, Where DOES love go when we are done with it, when it escapes us, somehow, whether by our choice of that of our love interest? It was not until the end of Maynard's novel, that I realized she was thinking about this while writing. "Where Love Goes" is one of her earlier novels, written in 1993, published in 1995, and set a decade or so earlier. Maynard remains one of my favorite writers, though I didn't love this novel as much as I have loved her others. Still, it is an extremely well written novel with much to contemplate. There is so much disfunction within the fictional families and couples whose stories fill the pages that I was exhausted just reading about their woes. I couldn't quite like ANY Of the characters very much, but I did still hope for a happy ending for them. Children suffer when their parents' relationships crumble loudly and without protection from the fallout. Love affairs change over time and we are left wondering if they were ever truly what they seemed? That seems to be Maynard's message to her readers. I had trouble wrapping my head around an almost forty year old mother, former wife, and now a girlfriend, who would put up with things that would have elicited a quick, "I AM OUT OF HERE" from me, but didn't phase her nearly enough. There are troubled children in the novel. It was hard to feel sorry for the youngest of them, a child whose mother abandoned her and her father when she was very young, because the child, Ursula, was cruel, defiant, and dishonest by the time she was eight. The other two children in the novel were more sympathetic characters. I understood their teenaged angst. I could feel sorry for them and hoped they would find their way as they matured, but I did not feel that way about Ursula, whose father, Tim, did her no favors by indulging her every whim. This is a GOOD book, but not Maynard's best. I will say, though, she inserts a twist close to the end, that I never saw coming, which is always a sign of really clever writing!

[Stella · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is not her best book, but in my humble opinion as a reader, I still gave it 5 stars (on Goodreads), because I rate books based solely on how much I enjoyed them. And I enjoyed this.

The relationships are honest and raw and the characters cringe-worthy, especially that little kid Ursula.

I noticed how wonderfully she incorporates pieces of her own life into her characters, the details I know from reading her non-fiction.. and her Facebook posts.

While the characters weren’t necessarily as deep as I would have liked them to be and some things remained on the surface, like Ursula’s self-absorbed mum or Tim’s true motivations, Claire was really well developed and fleshed out. As a reader and a woman, I could understand her motivations both with Mickey and later on, with Tim. But everything ultimately comes down to the children. If you have them, they rock your world and they certainly rock the world in Where Love Goes.

I am not going to do a deeper review of that book, but I would definitely recommend it.

I wrote more about my obsession with Maynard and her work here:https://www.choosingeasy.com/my-justi...

[Jackie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Claire is pushing forty, raising two teenagers and longs for romance and companionship. She is an extremely unlikable character. While she intends to make life perfect for her children, she has deep resentment of her ex-husband and an unhealthy obsession with a man who is so fake it's hard to believe she can't see it. Then she meets the "Man of her Dreams", a single father trying to raise his 8 year old daughter after her mother virtually abandons them. Their sexual passion is ridiculous teen age crap. I did not like one person in this book.

[Anne Caverhill · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just didn’t read ( actually re read) this book, I FELT it. Every word, every sentence, every paragraph adds value to describing the painful reality of being a single parent while hopelessly hanging on to the dream that someone somewhere will be one true soulmate. I love Joyce Maynards style and her honesty in depicting such an imperfect mom with intentions to be better. Every single day. It’s a haunting, poignant, story. And unforgettable with its searing response to the novels question —Where Does Love Go?

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Joyce Maynard writes with such honesty. While reading her books, I find myself pausing, pondering, remembering, questioning, laughing , crying, and all of the feels in between. I just love all of her work. I started with her later books and am moving backwards. It’s been said that Joni Mitchell bares her soul in her music. I believe that to be true and why I love her so much. I think it’s the same reason why I adore Joyce Maynard’s writing. She puts it all out there. I think it takes courage to bare one’s soul. 💜❤️💙

[Gwen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book felt long to me...about the effects of family changes on every family member...story was just enough to keep my interest, although I contemplated giving it up several time. 6/10.

[Kathy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was very enthused to read this book as I had LOVED her novel, The Bird Hotel.
This novel is well written but crude and boring.
DNF

[Judy Franks · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have never disliked a book that I finished as much as the book. I hated every character. The theme was incredibly depressing. This author did nothing but share the worst of every possible scenario. I am middle-aged and I can say with certaintythat life and relationships are much more fulfilling. Does this author suffer from depression?

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I find her books entertaining. I love a book with odd characters and situations that seem like a slice out of real life. I also like it when there isn't (always) a happy ever after. What I found odd though, was that some of the weird actions in this book, but a variety of characters, were the exact same weird actions lifted from her book, Count the Ways. I have never seen an author do that before.

[Amy · Rating 1 out of 5]

HATED it. I just kept reading, though, because I'd liked Labor Day so much that I thought there must be something redeeming here.
There was not.
Every single character was mentally ill--and also a terrible person. UGH.
Pretentious. Stilted. Awful. Pathological. Desperate. Pathetic.

[Molly]

Just the opposite of the previous book. I liked the characters, but I thought the writing was sloppy and unliterary. I did think the characters were very interesting people, and convincing as people, although their actions were truly bizarre. Do people really do this kind of stuff, and I am living in a delusional cloud of normalcy?

[Tracey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a fan of the similarities to situations in another Maynard book but a solid realistic depiction of how expectations and dysfunction impact family and relational dynamics.

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first this book felt flat compared to Mary Louise Parker's essays in Dr. Mr. You, a collection of essay fireworks unlike anything I've ever read.

But I stayed with the book, and was completely taken in. Marriage, divorce, then discovering a new love which surpasses anything or anyone Joyce had imagined in her life. So many journeys these two took, so many adventures, a new home together in California, and then, illness. Joyce's beloved husband, Jim, discovers he has cancer. The book is tender, filled with friendship, humor, music, family. I felt as though I were living these lives, learning the lessons these two people were learning.

When she first starts dating, the conversations inevitably focus on previous relationships. She is one who complains too, at first...reexamining old injuries, picking at scabs, but her conversation with Jim goes deeper. 71 He's the first man to "have her back." 74: The concepts of compromise, adaptation, and acceptance were new to me. But Jim was a peacemaker--a man who sought to locate the common ground, or the meeting place (that would keep his clients out of court)...now at home, he practiced this skill. I got better at it. 62 Point Reyes...Jim's photography, Joyce's literary interests, their shared love of food. 294 driving the Boxster and BMW, John Prine "Glory of True Love." 134 Joyce's interview with Dan Rather about her failed adoption of two Ethiopian orphans.
Jim tells her "Some people are going to hate you when they hear that interview." "I'll live with it.
You know who I am and you love me anyway." There might have been nothing that mattered more than that. That he knew me. Same as I knew him. With all our failings, we accepted each other. 145 the challenge of merging their art and furniture. 307 Joyce's tendency to get lost 336 Joyce's dream for Jim. 337 All the things we'd hungered for at other stages in our lives--were immaterial. Breathing would be enough. Getting to walk down our road together, and come in after to share a meal. That and ending up in the same bed every night with our arms around each other. What more did two people need? 408 The Bob Dylan concert at the Greek Theater in Berkeley.

[Judy Blachek · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found nearly every character in this book to be unappealing or have fatal flaws. The main story is about Claire who lives in Vermont and is divorced with two children, Sally and Peter. Her marriage was very unfulfilling. She had a few love affairs but one significant one with a man named Mickey in Boston. She meets Tim at her job and they begin a serious relationship. He is also divorced and has an 8-year old daughter, Ursula. Ursula's mother basically abandoned her and moved to New Zealand with her new partner.

This book seems to be about disappointment, betrayal, loss, and conflict. Both of Claire's children get in trouble with the law. Claire finds out in a very cruel way that she meant nothing to Mickey. Tim is in financial trouble but is unable to ask for help and sabotages his own efforts of improvement. He treats his daughter as if she is an adult. Instead she is really a sociopath. She needs help but he is unable to provide it to her and instead supports her when she misbehaves or manipulates others. Tim is addicted to Claire and is unable to function if she is not with him. The fact that Claire leaves her children alone EVERY night to go over to Tim's for sex was just irresponsible to me.

I finished this book simply to see how it would all wrap up, but I can't say I enjoyed it and I wanted to shake some of these people to get them to face reality.

[Les · Rating 4 out of 5]

My Original Notes (1996):

Very good, but depressing! I wonder how much of the details are autobiographical. I read Joyce Maynard's newsletter and a lot of what she's written (about her family and her divorce) sounds familiar in the plot of this book. I couldn't put the book down!

"A splendid, heartfelt novel... real enough to live in." ~ Pat Conroy

I could relate to a lot of what Maynard described, with regard to divorce and blended families.


My Current Thoughts:

I loved Maynard's Labor Day and The Usual Rules. I still have an ARC of After Her on my TBR shelf and hope to get to it in the coming year or so. I no longer have a copy of Where Love Goes, but in spite of enjoying it so well in 1996, I doubt I'd read it again. Reading about divorce and step-parenting isn't high on my list at this point in my life. The book probably validated a lot of my own feelings 20 years ago, but I don't feel the need to seek out affirmation of those feelings or attitudes any longer.

[jimtown · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was glad to find this book from one of my favorite authors, Joyce Maynard to get me out of my reading slump. I'd finished my last book in early August and couldn't get started on reading. Maybe I needed a break or was just busy with other things, but Where Love Goes was the right remedy for that.

I relate well to Maynard's writing, we are close in age and her perceptions of what life was like in the 1970's and beyond match my own pretty well. Her stories and characters are well imagined. In this story, Ursula the eight year old was especially well done.

I thought I might give this five stars at first but the ending slumped, it lacked vitality and I found myself ready to be done. I started skimming and finally closed the book before Claire was finished summarizing her life and loves.

Still the good parts and the way it grabbed a hold of me make this a winner.

[Angela Prior · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book even though at times I was beyond irritated with the main character and her choices. I was going to say it’s a bit melodramatic but real life is often messy and the saying “When it rains it pours” is a cliche for a reason.

The think I least enjoyed about this book was the main character’s approach to body size and image. This is definitely not a body positive book. It’s also an older book so it definitely fits the time in which it was written but it’s a little off putting. Claire (MC) is slightly obsessed with “helping” an 8 yr old lose weight. Not cool.

Still worth a read - especially if you like romance which I typically don’t and found it a bit heavy on but there was a lot of relatable sentiments for this once single mother.

[Holly H Durrence · Rating 3 out of 5]

I recently read Count the Ways by Joyce Maynard published 2021 and loved it. I checked this one out from the library and it was published in 1993. I couldn't believe it was the same storyline and the characters were almost the same as Count the Ways. She just changed a few things around. Wow. Count The Ways Got wonderful reviews and now I realize it was just basically a copy of this book. Sad.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Sandra · Rating 1 out of 5]

Simply awful, without a single likeable character.

[Taylor Segen · Rating 1 out of 5]

I quit anout a quarter of the way. I was a divorced mother who would never be able to relate to the main character. I found the work to be very boring and slow-moving.

[Julie · Rating 2 out of 5]

So tragic and depressing! Hard to get through!

[Valerie]

Very similar to her new book - same names, scenes.

[Sara Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book about 10 years ago & it still haunts me. Joyce Maynard can do no wrong in my eyes after this one.

[Tina Arvin · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Sharon Buxton · Rating 3 out of 5]

D. fiction, contemporary; reads like a Hallmark movie, but a depressing one; from stash, discard

[Grace Kyllo · Rating 3 out of 5]

while I found the story of Claire and Tim's intense love affair somewhat interesting, this story didn't stick w me. I shut the book at the end and it was gone.

[Amy Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book kept me up late because I couldn't put it down until I found out "then what happened?". This was despite the fact that pretty much every character is fairly unlikable, and that includes a nine-year-old child! Told from multiple perspectives of two divorced people who fall in love and endure a passionate but challenging romance, and brief POVs of their three children who all have their own deep-seated issues.

Maynard captures some very moving and real feelings about love, loneliness, waiting for what we deserve and settling for what we don't actually want. Her inclusion of a playlist in an author's note at the end is a nice parting gift to get you into the minds of what drives these characters to their end points.

[Snickerdoodle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Initially, and periodically, this book seemed like it wanted to go the way of a romantic novel, which is NOT what I'm looking for in a Joyce Maynard novel. I want some depth, something worth thinking about. These characters were so unlikeable, irritating, unrealistic, unreasonable, thoughtless, self centered. I spent a great deal of time being angry with these characters from the very beginning. Who behaves that way?!

Ah, but wait. People do. Too many people do. Maybe we all do to some extent but we just don't see it. At some point in the story (I'll admit it took me a while), I realized that was probably her point. Maynard was telling a story that said 'LOOK' ... look around you but mostly, look at yourself and your own life, your desires, your expectations. Your behavior might have unintended consequences, especially if there are children involved. Adults are supposed to finally reach a point in which they can be responsible for and be able to care for, themselves and others.

We want to always be on that passionate high of being 'in-love' -it's wonderful and addicting- but it's not sustainable. It's supposed to grow into something deeper. There's more to loving someone than pampering them and having crazy obsessive passionate sex without regard to consequences. There's far more to loving a child than giving them whatever they seem to want at the moment. In fact, creating the perfect fantasy childhood for them, is more about the parent than the child. When a marriage disintegrates, the best interests of the children must always come first. It doesn't mean you don't get a life, but part of that life affects your child. In most cases, divorced parents can still parent jointly. Things can be worked out when people talk -and listen generously. Who was listening to these children? No one -not even the perfect parent Claire. There is SO much more in this story to chew on.

There is no miraculous happy ending here but then life doesn't have just one happy ending. There are happy moments. There are many different kinds of happy to be found. But problems will always arise, and sometimes they'll be resolved, sometimes only laid to rest. Life goes on. Hopefully we grow through it, as we grew through adolescence, into better and better versions of ourselves, with a broader, healthier, wiser perspective.