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Another Place You've Never Been
Most of us have experienced what it’s like to know what someone is going to say right before they say it. Or perhaps you have been shocked by the irrefutable phenomena of coincidence, when your life intersects with another’s in the most unlikely way. In gripping prose marked by stark simplicity, Another Place You’ve Never Been by debut novelist Rebecca Kauffman explores the intersection of human experience amidst the minutiae of everyday life.
In her mid-thirties and living in Buffalo, NY (where she is originally from), Tracy spends most days at the restaurant where she works as a hostess, despite her aspirations of a career that would make use of her creative talents. Tracy’s life is explored not only though her own personal point of view, but also through the viewpoints of other characters, wherein Tracy may only make a peripheral appearance or even emerge at different periods in her life.
Kauffman subtly exposes the lives of these characters — alongside the presences of spiritually mysterious Native American figures that appear throughout — and gradually reveals the true purposes of both as their paths intersect.
In her mid-thirties and living in Buffalo, NY (where she is originally from), Tracy spends most days at the restaurant where she works as a hostess, despite her aspirations of a career that would make use of her creative talents. Tracy’s life is explored not only though her own personal point of view, but also through the viewpoints of other characters, wherein Tracy may only make a peripheral appearance or even emerge at different periods in her life.
Kauffman subtly exposes the lives of these characters — alongside the presences of spiritually mysterious Native American figures that appear throughout — and gradually reveals the true purposes of both as their paths intersect.
300 pages, Hardcover
First published October 11, 2016
About the author
Rebecca Kauffman
6 books450 followersRebecca Kauffman is originally from rural northeastern Ohio. She received her B.A. from the Manhattan School of Music in Violin Performance, and her M.F.A. in Creative Writing from NYU. She currently lives in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 133 reviews
May 10, 2025
4.5. A novel told in a series of vignettes, the whole created with a lot of space in between.
We see things from a wide lens, and the land is often open and cold and covered in snow. The lives followed are small ones, of people alone doing their best to survive and connect. Connections are loose, often with stretches of time in between intense patches of reunion, or accidental threads weaving people back. The world is threadbare, but not empty, there are moments of stark economic differences without head-on commentary.
One character rises above the rest, Tracy, who appears to us first as a child. The book offers snapshots of her life through the years. I’m not sure what the very first story in the collection meant in the scheme of things—it felt the most separate in time from the rest. But with hints of Native American tradition sprinkled throughout, I can’t help wondering if Kauffman is asking a kind of “when did we begin?”
Time might be the central character in this book, followed by Tracy’s relationship to time. Her small group of people in life cresting towards and falling away from one another over and over throughout: Is it a kind of stuckness that keeps us turning back, or is there a kind of fated intertwine between certain people?
The book forces us to ask the latter because happenstance keeps this group in orbit together as much as reaching back to the comfortable and known. Sometimes life puts these connections right in front of you, confronting us to revisit again and again.
We see things from a wide lens, and the land is often open and cold and covered in snow. The lives followed are small ones, of people alone doing their best to survive and connect. Connections are loose, often with stretches of time in between intense patches of reunion, or accidental threads weaving people back. The world is threadbare, but not empty, there are moments of stark economic differences without head-on commentary.
One character rises above the rest, Tracy, who appears to us first as a child. The book offers snapshots of her life through the years. I’m not sure what the very first story in the collection meant in the scheme of things—it felt the most separate in time from the rest. But with hints of Native American tradition sprinkled throughout, I can’t help wondering if Kauffman is asking a kind of “when did we begin?”
Time might be the central character in this book, followed by Tracy’s relationship to time. Her small group of people in life cresting towards and falling away from one another over and over throughout: Is it a kind of stuckness that keeps us turning back, or is there a kind of fated intertwine between certain people?
The book forces us to ask the latter because happenstance keeps this group in orbit together as much as reaching back to the comfortable and known. Sometimes life puts these connections right in front of you, confronting us to revisit again and again.
March 24, 2025
4.5 Stars
Written as a series of interlocking short stories, Rebecca Kauffman's debut novel Another Place You've Never Been is an aching and insightful look at relationships with all their tensions and secrets as well as their intimacy and preciousness.
A character driven work, these vignettes weave in and out of Kaffman's characters' lives, showcasing defining moments. As time passes the significance of these times becomes apparent.
Kauffman asks some thought provoking questions. What is love and why don't we always recognize it? What do we want/need from each other and what gets in the way of giving and/or receiving it?
These characters are all seeking to find a place to belong. They have periods of self-examination and look at their capacity for self-acceptance, change, and redemption. Their stories grabbed me and held me as I journeyed along with these men and women.
"All these years of thinking she deserved a better life than the one she was given, all these years of blaming the people around her . . . she considered how thoughtlessly she had set things in motion. . . . Somethig ugly inside of her had always been driven to prove that she was as good . . . . There were two truths here . . . one that justified her behavior, quickly wiping away the wrongdoing. And beneath that truth, attached to its underbelly, was the cruelty of carelessness, the damage left in its wake."
"Details were knocking against one another in the very softest part of her. Was this nostalgia? Love? Was there a difference? Could she recall this warm memory with such intense particularity if there was not also the same measure of love attached? . . . It had all changed, she thought now, and she felt a deeply, wonderfully sad happiness at this. It had all changed and it would all change again."
This book is one of those works that I loved as I read and that continued to expand and grow over the next few days after I put it down. I was then called back to re-read sections and spend more time thinking about these characters.
A huge thank you to K, who gifted me with this one!
Publication 2016
Written as a series of interlocking short stories, Rebecca Kauffman's debut novel Another Place You've Never Been is an aching and insightful look at relationships with all their tensions and secrets as well as their intimacy and preciousness.
A character driven work, these vignettes weave in and out of Kaffman's characters' lives, showcasing defining moments. As time passes the significance of these times becomes apparent.
Kauffman asks some thought provoking questions. What is love and why don't we always recognize it? What do we want/need from each other and what gets in the way of giving and/or receiving it?
These characters are all seeking to find a place to belong. They have periods of self-examination and look at their capacity for self-acceptance, change, and redemption. Their stories grabbed me and held me as I journeyed along with these men and women.
"All these years of thinking she deserved a better life than the one she was given, all these years of blaming the people around her . . . she considered how thoughtlessly she had set things in motion. . . . Somethig ugly inside of her had always been driven to prove that she was as good . . . . There were two truths here . . . one that justified her behavior, quickly wiping away the wrongdoing. And beneath that truth, attached to its underbelly, was the cruelty of carelessness, the damage left in its wake."
"Details were knocking against one another in the very softest part of her. Was this nostalgia? Love? Was there a difference? Could she recall this warm memory with such intense particularity if there was not also the same measure of love attached? . . . It had all changed, she thought now, and she felt a deeply, wonderfully sad happiness at this. It had all changed and it would all change again."
This book is one of those works that I loved as I read and that continued to expand and grow over the next few days after I put it down. I was then called back to re-read sections and spend more time thinking about these characters.
A huge thank you to K, who gifted me with this one!
Publication 2016
October 15, 2017
This book of stories all contain a shared character - a woman named Marty, who works in Buffalo in a low-income job as a hostess. In some stories she is a child, in some she is in the background, but the stories return to her life and story.
Buffalo feels like a small town in some ways and it makes me wonder if it has that kind of vibe to it. There are threads of indigenous characters here and I learned in the end that some of the stories are based on elements of Ojibwa culture, but I feel like some of that may have gone over my head. I did notice how the author is tuned in to the intricacies of how people interact with one another and how small decisions have a longterm impact.
Buffalo feels like a small town in some ways and it makes me wonder if it has that kind of vibe to it. There are threads of indigenous characters here and I learned in the end that some of the stories are based on elements of Ojibwa culture, but I feel like some of that may have gone over my head. I did notice how the author is tuned in to the intricacies of how people interact with one another and how small decisions have a longterm impact.
June 1, 2022
This is the forth book I’ve read by Rebecca Kauffman….and although this (debut) was not my first choice favorite — I clearly liked it. It took me a couple stories to warm up to its totality….getting stronger with each vignette.
“Another Place You’ve Never Been” are interlocking short stories…..a writing style I’ve grown to appreciate since reading the book “The Wonder Garden” by Lauren Acampora.
Tracy reappears in one story after another, creating great depth in characterizations and a full-bodied wholesome feel…. a full inside/out look at her life….in relationship to her parents, coexisting friendships, a best friend, dating, painful experiences, nostalgic memories and driven by love.
Kauffman makes writing about dark, smart, and substantially real look effortless….(maybe Kauffman would be laughing and saying, “no! no!…it’s effort!”)…..
There is no plot per say …..
……instead the writing is thoughtful and compassionate …looking at individual characteristics, qualities, behaviors, and attitudes, consciousness, respect, caring, love, sadness, levels of betrayal, jealousies, disappointments, helpless realities, dreams, hopes, assertiveness, introverted/extroverted/positive&negative character traits.
Rebecca is quite talented at developing characters with myriad traits to build empathy …. and realism. A terrific contemporary writer. Love her style.
As I mentioned ….this was Rebecca Kauffman’s debut.
Each of her following books continue to get better.
I’m a fan of Rebecca Kauffman’s work….and will continue reading her books as fast as she writes them.
“Another Place You’ve Never Been” are interlocking short stories…..a writing style I’ve grown to appreciate since reading the book “The Wonder Garden” by Lauren Acampora.
Tracy reappears in one story after another, creating great depth in characterizations and a full-bodied wholesome feel…. a full inside/out look at her life….in relationship to her parents, coexisting friendships, a best friend, dating, painful experiences, nostalgic memories and driven by love.
Kauffman makes writing about dark, smart, and substantially real look effortless….(maybe Kauffman would be laughing and saying, “no! no!…it’s effort!”)…..
There is no plot per say …..
……instead the writing is thoughtful and compassionate …looking at individual characteristics, qualities, behaviors, and attitudes, consciousness, respect, caring, love, sadness, levels of betrayal, jealousies, disappointments, helpless realities, dreams, hopes, assertiveness, introverted/extroverted/positive&negative character traits.
Rebecca is quite talented at developing characters with myriad traits to build empathy …. and realism. A terrific contemporary writer. Love her style.
As I mentioned ….this was Rebecca Kauffman’s debut.
Each of her following books continue to get better.
I’m a fan of Rebecca Kauffman’s work….and will continue reading her books as fast as she writes them.
November 13, 2018
2.5
I wish the covers or the titles of short stories would actually say, "Short Stories" so I would know to avoid those particular books. They rarely manage to impress me, and most often confound me. I should have put this one aside after two chapters, but for some reason I thought it would improve. (That reason being Kauffman's latest book, The Gunners, which I loved.)
Tracy is the central character, with the stories either including her or referring to her. I did not like or understand Tracy, so that added to my struggle.
Also there was this: I listened to this at the same time I was reading Virgil Wander and thought them so similar as to be confusing. Lake Superior in one, Lake Erie in the other; fishing (Virgil had a huge sturgeon while Tracy had a large mounted musky); the constant snow you find in Minnesota and New York (not to mention that both states have cities called Rochester). Car accidents played an important part in both. I do not like fishing, and presently it's that time of year when I have nightmares about having a snow-related car accident.
So it may have been poor timing and definitely could be my personal idiosyncrasies.
Sorry, Rebecca. I didn't like your debut, but I'll read your next book and the next one too just because of The Gunners.
I wish the covers or the titles of short stories would actually say, "Short Stories" so I would know to avoid those particular books. They rarely manage to impress me, and most often confound me. I should have put this one aside after two chapters, but for some reason I thought it would improve. (That reason being Kauffman's latest book, The Gunners, which I loved.)
Tracy is the central character, with the stories either including her or referring to her. I did not like or understand Tracy, so that added to my struggle.
Also there was this: I listened to this at the same time I was reading Virgil Wander and thought them so similar as to be confusing. Lake Superior in one, Lake Erie in the other; fishing (Virgil had a huge sturgeon while Tracy had a large mounted musky); the constant snow you find in Minnesota and New York (not to mention that both states have cities called Rochester). Car accidents played an important part in both. I do not like fishing, and presently it's that time of year when I have nightmares about having a snow-related car accident.
So it may have been poor timing and definitely could be my personal idiosyncrasies.
Sorry, Rebecca. I didn't like your debut, but I'll read your next book and the next one too just because of The Gunners.
February 8, 2020
Rebecca Kauffman is quickly becoming one of my favourite contemporary writers.
In her wonderful debut novel, Kauffman employs a similar narrative technique to that of Elizabeth Strout’s Olive Kitteridge. Through a collection of interconnected stories, we are introduced to Tracy, a character who is the focus of some chapters and merely a memory in others. She appears first as a ten year old girl visiting her estranged father; a 13 year old troublemaker at a teenage sleepover in another; a restaurant hostess embarking on an affair with a younger co-worker in a latter chapter. Tracy is the connecting piece of this puzzle, which eventually weaves into a stirring and emotive tapestry of the everydayness of life.
The way in which these characters’ paths intersect is deeply satisfying to witness, and the gentle pace and subtle tension completely draw you in. With clear and and vivid prose, Kauffman expertly depicts the lives of lonely and despondent characters, all affected by decisions they have made in the hope of finding human connection.
Another Place You’ve Never Been is about life’s disappointments and small victories; the ebb and flow of time and how it moves people forward. While it is a portrayal of the mundaneness of human experience, it is still deeply moving and undeniable true.
A rich and rewarding read. 4.5 stars.
In her wonderful debut novel, Kauffman employs a similar narrative technique to that of Elizabeth Strout’s Olive Kitteridge. Through a collection of interconnected stories, we are introduced to Tracy, a character who is the focus of some chapters and merely a memory in others. She appears first as a ten year old girl visiting her estranged father; a 13 year old troublemaker at a teenage sleepover in another; a restaurant hostess embarking on an affair with a younger co-worker in a latter chapter. Tracy is the connecting piece of this puzzle, which eventually weaves into a stirring and emotive tapestry of the everydayness of life.
The way in which these characters’ paths intersect is deeply satisfying to witness, and the gentle pace and subtle tension completely draw you in. With clear and and vivid prose, Kauffman expertly depicts the lives of lonely and despondent characters, all affected by decisions they have made in the hope of finding human connection.
Another Place You’ve Never Been is about life’s disappointments and small victories; the ebb and flow of time and how it moves people forward. While it is a portrayal of the mundaneness of human experience, it is still deeply moving and undeniable true.
A rich and rewarding read. 4.5 stars.
June 14, 2025
Once again I'm richly rewarded for reading deep into my TBR. I've read more recent books by Kauffman and have been meaning to go back to her early work. Clearly, she has always been a gifted storyteller.
The format here at first feels like loosely connected vignettes but over the course of this novel she digs deeply into what it feels like to not quite belong, to not feel like we got the life we deserved. Tracy is a protagonist who will sit in my heart for a long while, not because she's likable (she's often not) but because she's so real. This is a rare book that just kept getting better as it approaches the end, fully satisfying without being too tidy.
The format here at first feels like loosely connected vignettes but over the course of this novel she digs deeply into what it feels like to not quite belong, to not feel like we got the life we deserved. Tracy is a protagonist who will sit in my heart for a long while, not because she's likable (she's often not) but because she's so real. This is a rare book that just kept getting better as it approaches the end, fully satisfying without being too tidy.
August 29, 2023
Rebecca Kauffman is such a great story teller and these linked short stories really showed that off. After reading her most recent novel I had to check out her backlist and this concludes my reading of all four of her books. I liked them all which I can't say about most authors. Looking forward to her next release!
October 9, 2016
I adored Another Place You've Never Been. Kauffman's characters are rich and thoughtful, and she weaves together their lives with a naturalness that is refreshing. Even more impactful is how in the dark moments that freckle these characters lives, there is more beauty and resiliency than doom and gloom. I found my self often in tears not over the sadness they felt, but because of how they bore through it. Tracy, the central figure in the book, is incredible. I am recommending this to everyone I know.
December 12, 2016
Picked this up on a whim and was blown away. Contains some of the best character development I've ever read. I feel like I definitely know these characters in real life! Quick, interesting, engaging book.
June 4, 2025
Kauffman's debut is made up of intertwined short stories or vignettes. For a while, I couldn't grasp who was who, eventually I wised up.
The connecting link for most of the stories is Tracy, now in her late thirties, single, working at a Buffalo restaurant as a hostess. Raised by a single mother, Tracy is somewhat unmoored, lonely and disquieted. All characters live very simple, modest lives, there's a persistent thread of loneliness and disconnection that's realistic, therefore depressing.
There isn't much plot, with mundaneity and habit being the main protagonists.
The connecting link for most of the stories is Tracy, now in her late thirties, single, working at a Buffalo restaurant as a hostess. Raised by a single mother, Tracy is somewhat unmoored, lonely and disquieted. All characters live very simple, modest lives, there's a persistent thread of loneliness and disconnection that's realistic, therefore depressing.
There isn't much plot, with mundaneity and habit being the main protagonists.
March 20, 2017
Reminiscent of Raymond Carver. Really enjoyed these interconnected stories of regular people just trying to live their lives the best they can, sometimes wishing for a different life, with the character Tracy at the center of them all. A great debut for the author.
Some favorite lines:
"The way the world works...the way it moves as a planet, always shiftin' and rumblin' deep inside...turns out no place is ever quite the same as it was before. Landmarks and coordinates will've changed."
"She felt a swift pang of uneasiness, the sense of something left undone, an apology she owed, RSVP she'd neglected to return, a bill left unpaid, but she was unable to name the source of this feeling."
"Details were knocking against one another in the very softest part of her. Was this nostalgia? Love? Was there a difference? Could she recall this warm memory with such intense particularity if there was not also the same measure of love attached?...It had all changed, she thought now, and she felt a deeply, wonderfully sad happiness at this. It had all changed, and it would all change again."
Some favorite lines:
"The way the world works...the way it moves as a planet, always shiftin' and rumblin' deep inside...turns out no place is ever quite the same as it was before. Landmarks and coordinates will've changed."
"She felt a swift pang of uneasiness, the sense of something left undone, an apology she owed, RSVP she'd neglected to return, a bill left unpaid, but she was unable to name the source of this feeling."
"Details were knocking against one another in the very softest part of her. Was this nostalgia? Love? Was there a difference? Could she recall this warm memory with such intense particularity if there was not also the same measure of love attached?...It had all changed, she thought now, and she felt a deeply, wonderfully sad happiness at this. It had all changed, and it would all change again."
December 18, 2016
I love short stories. Each chapter is a short story connected throughout the years to the main character Tracy. Outstanding debut work by Rebecca Kauffman. Brilliant storytelling! Some of the magical characters are immersed with Ojibwa culture. Interwoven stories that are exquisite, I think this is one of my top five reads of 2016. Breathtaking!
August 7, 2018
This is a beautifully written short novel 244 pages set in my hometown of Buffalo, NY. It has many flawed and sad characters. But what I got out of it is that life is puzzling at what you are doing with your life. And life is a journey sometimes you get where you think you should be and sometimes you find another path. I loved it.
November 26, 2016
Excellent debut novel. I can tell that this moving and slightly sad story will stick with me for a while. If you like to mix a little melancholy into your holiday reading, pick this up now - some sections of the story take place around Thanksgiving and Christmas. Primarily set in Buffalo New York (with a brief cameo for Traverse City Michigan - the wonderful pie at the Cherry Hut is mentioned!!) makes for an excellent winter read.
January 29, 2023
“Another Place You’ve Never Been”, is Rebecca Kauffman’s debut novel (2016). It is a compelling and character-driven collection of interrelated stories. Each point of view is fascinating, thought-provoking, and beautifully written. Often the reader knows how these characters are related to each other, though they themselves do not.
I became enamored with Kauffman’s writing style after reading and loving “Chorus” last year. I’ve now read all her novels and can’t wait for her to publish more!
I became enamored with Kauffman’s writing style after reading and loving “Chorus” last year. I’ve now read all her novels and can’t wait for her to publish more!
March 3, 2017
Water, in all it's iterations, is a quiet character in this book. Many of the chapters read like snapshots of the character's lives. Fishing, parrot thievery and attempts to connect are some of the things that make Tracy very real to me. I think Kauffman has a great future, can't wait for her next novel.
April 20, 2018
Um hmm. That was some sublime reading. A book with a circle of life at it’s wide open heart. Though initially it feels bleak by mid way it, like the falling snow or sugar on the donuts, is sprinkled with hope. Two spirit is said to appear when death is near. But, death in this case may be like the death card in tarot, symbolizing transformation or change. Each character transforms to understand that it is impossible to locate the same exact place where you return to find comfort, as “it had all changed and will change again.” Each character may have to learn a life lesson or two. It all comes together just as it was meant to. There is such wisdom and comfort in this book. Please read and journey on the Ferris wheel of life, like Greenie, to learn forgiveness.
February 7, 2017
Beautiful and sad, this book is about how hard it can be sometimes to give and accept love. It captures how it feels to be a human in the world. The little details, the moments that seem to come and go without much significance in one life but bleed into the lives of others in mysterious and unforeseen ways. The characters are rich and sympathetic. Kauffman really impressed me with this debut. I look forward to what she will do next.
February 20, 2017
Kauffman's use of detail is subtle and works well to develop the innate sadness of her well-rounded characters. While not outright drawing attention to the seemingly minute details contained within each vignette, Kauffman gets the reader to understand her characters and truly feel for them. This is a well-crafted book of intertwined shorter stories. It is extremely enjoyable on a character-development level, which is what drives the narrative.
October 31, 2016
Holy crap on toast, the ending! Neat book :)
November 13, 2016
Well written and poignant. Interesting way of presenting a story.
February 23, 2017
Sensitive, touching, and even thought-provoking--a real treat!
March 12, 2017
Not usually a fan of short stories but I can't stop thinking about these. They all kind of tie together.
February 9, 2025
Nothing spectacular, but a good pick up and put down read that examines the snowball effect of actions on the people around us, and the ones we haven’t even met yet.
March 23, 2017
It's probably not a secret that I'm drawn to characters for their flaws and Kauffman's characters are deeply, deeply flawed. But it's love they're driven by, love and the belief that there's never going to be a slice of it for them. There's Tracy, raised by a pill-popping mother, cheated out of summer visits by her father's jealous girlfriend. Is it any wonder she's the kind of woman who dates mostly married men because "Something ugly inside of her had always been driven to prove that she was as good as a woman who someone considered marriage material--that she was every bit as desirable." This is a book driven by desires, few of them sexual, many of them hollow in the end.
Kauffman does a masterful job playing with our sympathies--building them up, undercutting them, resurrecting them again.
Kauffman does a masterful job playing with our sympathies--building them up, undercutting them, resurrecting them again.
June 12, 2018
I listened to this on audio, and I found the stories washed over me, enjoyable at the time, but ultimately, they left little impression. That’s not bad, especially if that’s the feeling you are looking for. I enjoyed the vignettes of interrelated stories, although I found myself looking for the relationships as much as listening to the story. The first story, about the swimmers, was the most intense. The rest were more tame. I suspect this one is better read than listened to. I would consider reading more by Kauffman.
January 8, 2019
Almost reads as short stories, but all connected to one centralized character. I liked the structure more than I thought I would. The gloom of the rust belt/Buffalo hung over this one. But interesting pockets of hope mixed in with the darkness. I read this because I really enjoyed The Gunners by the author, and after reading this, will continue to keep an eye on what she comes out with.
February 5, 2022
I much disliked the main character.
May 11, 2026
What a gorgeous masterpiece of a novel this is!!! I am now looking forward to reading all of Rebecca Kayffman’s books 📚 🤗😊👏Bravo 👏😍❤️📚
Displaying 1 - 30 of 133 reviews