A Place For Us | Holly Furtick Book Club

In 2018, I had this great idea to start a book club, mostly because I love books. I particularly love audiobooks, and I love forcing them on other people and then talking about them. And so I started this book club, and I just put it out there on Instagram. I said, hey, read this book and. And then let's come together and chat about it. And I wanted to share those chats with you here on my YouTube channel. So I hope you enjoy this video. Hi, everybody. It's book club time. I'm all booked. We are discussing this book, A Place for Us by Fatima Fish. Farheen Mirza. I don't know if I'm saying her name right, but I think I am. Super quick. I want to give you a couple things about the author, and then we're going to jump right in with my friend Christine Cain. So the author, Fatim Farhim Mirza, she took eight years to write this book. She started writing it when she was 18 years old, and she finished it eight years later. And it's her debut novel. One of the interviews that I saw was that she said she fell in love with these characters so much that she didn't want to turn the manuscript in because she felt like they. Like they were her friends and that she was gonna miss them. So, you know, that has to be a sign of a good book when the author says that about the characters. I love debut novels. I used to not. Because I used to think like, oh, you know, when somebody only writes one book, it's better if somebody's written 20 books so that they can develop their writing style and all of that. That's true. But when somebody writes their very first book, a lot of times it's the book that they've been writing their entire life. And my husband says that about albums, too. It's like the album that they've been writing for years and years and years, and the book that they've been writing for years and years and years that they've agonized over this plot and these characters and these people. And so I like debut novels because usually there's just so much put into them that you. That you don't get when you have a book contract and you have to have a book, you know, 18 months or whatever. So that's a little bit about the author. Let's talk to Chris.

How are you?

I haven't seen you in a long time.

I know. You look awesome. And you. Did you tell everyone that you are my personal. You actually send me books to read? You personally tell me what books to read. You are my novel queen.

Yeah.

What are we.

What would you call that? Like your. Like your.

You know, we have personal shoppers, and then we have personal book.

That's right.

I'm your.

I'm your book guru. I was trying to think of the word muse, but that's not the right. That's not the right word. The thing is. And let me just tell everybody this. I feel like it is my ministry to you. Christine Caine is such a serious person. She's a very good friend of mine, but she's so serious. Serious, and she always reads such serious books. And so I just feel like it's my ministry to my friend Chris to just keep it light and give her some things to read that really will just help you not think. You know, I'm a number nine on the Enneagram. And so our signature sin is called sloth. So I find it my ministry to help my friends relax, because it's. It is one of my gifts is relaxing. So, yes, I send Chris books all the time. And also, let me tell you this, too. I love to send people books when I know that they read them. Because sometimes you can give somebody a book and they're like, oh, yeah, I'm gonna read it. I'm gonna read it. And it's fine. Like, if you don't want to read it, don't read it. But if I know that you're actually reading the books, then I will send them to you all the time.

So this book is my life story, almost, except not entirely.

Why? Tell me, why is it your life story?

Because my parents were Greek immigrants in Australia. So I connected with the characters. I mean, although, of course, they were Muslim, Indian Muslims, you know, and just all of the. But all of their angst and trying to live in one culture while you were in another culture and being marginalized and just the expectations for women and your parents trying to control everything but wanting you to have a better life. I mean, I wept through the book because I just thought all the way through it, I've written this is my life. This is my life. This is my life. I mean, it's. She is a brilliant writer. I mean, the emotion she evoked. And I don't want to spoil this for anyone, but understanding the angst of the parents, there are so many layers in this, psychological layers, you know, the trauma of the family dynamics, all of that, and what the parents brought into their own marriage and then raising their own children and unresolved issues from their own life and broken dreams. In their own life and how you project that onto your kids and then just the kids, the sibling rivalry and not feeling like you're good enough. I thought this. No wonder the book has done so well because it connects with everybody's story.

It does. Did you have a hard time getting into it, like the writers, the style that she uses initially?

But I think because again, I love books written by authors with some kind of foreign background. Because so much of my work, although I live here in America, I mean, Greek is my first language. You know, I have citizenship in three different countries. I sort of think globally, so I could get in because I've spent a lot of time in India as well, and we have offices down that part of the world. So I instantly can get into how they're thinking and the whole family dynamic before it even starts and what it is like living in another country. So I like her fresh style of writing. I'm a little bit like you, always a bit nervous with her when it's the first book of an authority. But, I mean, she killed it. Absolutely killed it. And it was complex. I mean, it was. The thing I found a little bit hard was going in and out of the present to the past, the present to the past. Once I got into that rhythm, though, I was really with it.

I totally agree. I thought. One of the things that I read about the book that I thought was brilliant was how basically she. She starts out. For those of you who haven't read the book, she starts out with in the future at this wedding. And. And with the. The son that nobody's seen in three years showing up to this wedding. And then basically it's like the show this is Us. Have you seen the show this Is Us where like, you're in the future, you're in the past, you're in the present, you're like back and forth over the whole thing. And once you kind of get into her rhythm and you realize, oh, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter what year this is. It's all about the story. And it's all about all of the different family members trying to process through, like, what has happened, how did we get to this place? And they're all using their memories to sort of piece this whole story together. And you're getting everybody's different perspectives. Okay, so let me ask you this because I like, usually we kind of go chronologically through the story.

But.

But since I have you jumping on at the beginning because you're a very busy woman also, just. Have you seen that Sarah Jakes Roberts is on a good friend of both of ours, and she said this is her favorite thing ever, that two of her favorite people are talking about a book. So we'll have to tell Sarah she has to be a guest next time that we do this. She has to read the book.

Absolutely.

Sarah reads a lot, too, so. Hi, Sarah. Okay, so I want to ask you this. Like, there's so many. Like, there's so much that can be discussed, so many themes. And I, like, I just had to choose one thing to talk to you about. And so I want to talk to you about the dad. So what was your opinion of the dad throughout the story? And did you change your opinion of him by the end of the story, or did you still not like him?

It's okay. I don't. Are we doing a spoiler alert? Like, how detailed do we get now?

Sure, it's fine. You can spoil because people are. They're either they either read it or they didn't.

Okay, I did. I was. And I wondered what you would pick for us to talk about because I thought. So you went for the dad, which is. My heart broke for him. I realized early on that this man must have had something in his past. And so when it started to unfold that his own dad died when he was 13 and he didn't have a role model of a dad, I could understand why he was like he was. And I know so many dads like that. It's like, it's so easy to just write them off. But the pressure that an immigrant feels to not only provide for his family, but to protect his family, there are so many which we saw through that. I liked how it sort of related to 9, 11, and just different things that he knows his kids had to go through at school. Do you wear a hijabi? Do you not? Do you know. You know you're going to be marginalized? I remember my own dad could have seemed really harsh to people, but they lived with this fear all the time. Like, my brother was frequently beaten up at school just because we were from another nationality. People would come, throw eggs at our house, write graffiti on the wall, go back to your own effing country. I would have that all the time. And so, you know, unless you know what that feels like, it's just. It's you. You never feel like you belong. And so your parents, they fled their country because there was. My parents had war and injustice in Egypt and fled to Australia. And then you're being told, go back to your own country. But that's where you were born. So this is your country. But. So you're not Australian enough for the Australians, you're not Greek enough for the Greeks. And I. And I know what these fathers feel like. They want to somehow keep their family values, their traditional values, because they don't know any better, right. Then they've got their own loss. I mean, his own dad died, he's raised by somebody else. So you've got no idea, really. So you're trying to grapple. And if religion, I mean, it shows you here, I think throughout here, and this could happen, whether it's Muslim or Christian, when you actually don't have a personal encounter with God, but there's a religious system that you're trying to uphold and you sort of try to get to God through your religious system. That's the only thing you know how to do. So it's not that he was trying to be harsh on his son or harsh on his daughters. He just didn't know better. And. And of course there's fallen nature in that. So I figured early on I was waiting to see. I thought he's got his own father issues. And it didn't surprise me when I found out his dad had died.

Didn't you feel like by the end of the story, like, even though there were a lot of moments where you really hated him, you're like, man, he's so hard on the son and he just needs to lighten up a little bit and like, understand what he's going through. And you just felt all this. But then by the end, I just really felt like, you know, he was doing the best that he could.

So that's what broke my heart. That letter at the end, just in his best way. And I thought she wrote that really well, like, as in, it's just. It wasn't overdone. But you really got a glimpse into his heart and soul. He just didn't know any. He really was doing the best that he could with the tools that he had. And it makes you just. Yeah, I mean, my heart just broke. I thought that it's. It's everybody's story of, of guilt and regret and shame. And I wish I had done it different. Is my kids strung out on drugs because of me, you know, like, I mean, you just sort of. That guilt that he had to live with and the fact that it may never be resolved. You just kind of man, she. It really. Maybe it's because I'm older. You're just much more aware I'm an older Mum. So you kind of go, man, I know that brokenness. But you throw that element in of being a foreigner in another nation. It is really hard. And in a sense, I've never really belonged. I think I empathize. I couldn't believe you picked this book. Because I'm going through, going. This is every immigrant story. And for most of the world nowadays that has been displaced and so much of the world. I think that's why this book's done so well, because it actually connects with so. So many people.

Did you like the title?

Very much so. Because it's a Place for Us. I've got our friends walking past now waving to me. But yes, and I think that's what. I think the title worked on so many levels because it's a place for us corporately, a place for us. Me in my family, my family in this nation. She had a lot of things going. I mean, she certainly spoke to the soul of every person personally. And then she also. Which this is not easy to do. She really gave a beautiful commentary, even on what our nation is going through, even right in this moment. You go, what a timeless thing to be able to write, to weave in, to touch the heart of every person that feels like, is there a place for me? Because most people feel like they're an alien anyway. I mean, it doesn't matter who. Even if you're an American brought up in an American family, there's. Everyone's had this experience of, I don't belong in this family. I was born into the wrong family.

Right. It's so brilliant. I don't belong in this country. I don't belong in this family. And then. I don't know if you. If you caught this, but it's also a line from it's west side Story, which is Romeo and Juliet. And you have that theme going on too, like the, you know, forbidden love. And so in the song Somewhere, it. It starts out, there's a place for us somewhere. So I just like when I started to make all those connections and, you know, my husband is really big on titles, and so I just thought how cool that the title that just has so many layers of meaning for the story.

Oh, and the fact that she. I love with that us. She unified it even in that A Place for Us. So it's just. And she wrote that way, like, you got into every character, I think. I mean, you could have talked about so many things today. But when you start to dissect the sisters and what they went through, the mother and what she went through you just kind of Amar and Amira and. And the web of all of that. The sister and the guy that died and him and his sister, you know, of the guy that died, you just like, okay. It's masterful. No wonder it took her eight years to write.

And I also, like, I. When I try to describe the book every time when I was reading it, I would think, oh, the. The sister is the main character. And then you read a little more. The mom is the main character. And then you read a little more, oh, no, Amar is the main character. Oh, it's the dad. By the end, you're like, oh, maybe the dad was the main character all along. And that's why when I was describing the book to get people to read it, I'm like, the main character is this family. Like, it's all of them. And it's all of them. How they. All of the events of their family, the small moments of their family lead up to this one big. How the sun turned out. And. And they're all.

It is.

So.

And to me, one of the biggest moments was when the mother disappeared, which then we find out it was because she had a miscarriage or lost the baby. And it so marked the. The son who just, like, he didn't know where she was. But even when she was writing and just to put that kind of moment in, that feeling of abandonment, that feeling of rejection, and then the mother and him so close, and then the mother, in a sense being responsible for him and the girl splitting up, you're just going, this has got so many different themes in the midst of all of that. Like, you know, son and mother, father jealous of son and mother. You know, I mean, it's just mother jealous.

But then it still didn't feel like too much. It didn't feel like she bit off more than she could chew. She actually pulled it off.

No, because I think there's a part of that that is just true for everyone in a different way. That's what I think it wasn't. I mean, these are all little sub themes. And of course, I'm always thinking through these. These kind of different things. So that's why I think it's a book for everyone. Because you can read it on one level and it's fine. And if this is why it's masterful for a first book, if you're a seasoned reader or even, like, I have a literature degree. And she kept me captivated from the beginning to the end because I'm like, there are so many themes and sub Themes and different layers. You can go on. There are not many writers that can keep someone like, you know, with a whatever. Like someone that maybe specializes in reading is what they do to someone that just wants a summer read. I'm like, whoa, you've grabbed us all.

Totally agree. I love you. Thank you.

I love you.

I know you're, like, sitting in a car and you have somewhere you have to be, and it really means a lot to me that you would jump on. And I know everybody loves hearing from you, too.

Well, I love it. And I can't wait till you send me the next book.

Okay. It'll be in the mail.

Sarah Jakes Roberts, wherever you are, you're next on this show.

All right, bye.

Love ya.

One of the things that really grabbed me about this story was that it's about a Muslim family from India living as immigrants in the United States, and they live in California. And so I just thought, like, I never. I never really knew that much about Muslims besides what I learned about them in my world religion class in college or what you can read about the Muslim religion, but to actually put a family to this, to this religion that is, you know, can be really hated across our world and misunderstood. I just. I love this idea of getting to know the people behind this religion that maybe I don't know that much about, and then they become human, and then I love them, and then I just, like, even. I didn't even realize how much I have in common with. With Muslims and understanding how moral they are and how devout they are to their. To what they believe. And I just thought that was great.

So.

Okay. Oh, hey, Donna. Donna read the book. She thought it was great, too. We. We already chatted about it a little bit on Instagram. All right, so let's just start with this. Did you like the writing style? Because I know a lot of people did not like the writing style. Like, even my husband, I don't know if he's still watching. He's been trying to read the book. And, you know, my husband has a lot on his mind, so it's hard for him to concentrate with his story. And so he's been trying to read the book, and he had a really hard time getting into it and really, like, settling into the author's rhythm and her stories. And he was telling me, I think he would agree with this, that he just didn't feel like she pulled it off that well. So I'm really interested to know if. Did you like the style? Were you able to finish the book? So some Chantel is saying it was hard on audiobook because you didn't know it was going back and forth. My dog drives me crazy. We chatted last time. She says it took her a couple chapters to get used to it. And I totally agree. It took me a second to, like, really settle in to her style, but then once I settled in, I really felt like she did it well and. And not only did she do it well, but that I enjoyed it because it felt fresh and it felt different. So let's see. Rebecca says, much slower rhythm than I usually enjoy, but I think it was good and I finished it. My friend Sarah Lack says it took me a while to get into the back and forth, but once I did, it didn't matter. It just flowed. And I loved the end. She says, at the beginning, she was definitely confused. So somebody else is Saying the first 50 pages was a little bit rough, difficult, but once you got used to it, it was fine. Okay, so here's somebody saying, I had a hard time with it. Somebody else, not my favorite style. LD said she appreciates the complexity of her writing and the flow. It was unique, and I can respect that. See, I thought the same thing. Like, I appreciated that she tried something different. Sometimes I feel like the easiest thing to do is to write in first person, but the way that she switched characters and everything was really cool. So I don't know how to say this. Dr. Sibley, six. You tried to get into it several times but didn't finish it reminds me. Somebody said it reminds me of Leon Moriarty. I think I said that. Right. I agree with that. She can go back and forth too. Let's see. Anybody else? You didn't like the book, like, you couldn't finish it, you couldn't get into it. I'd be interested to know that. So let's see. Cat Mag says, I read through the storyline. She said the storyline was good, but it wasn't one of my favorites. Somebody said they're confused and they were struggling with it. Somebody said I didn't know a lot about Muslims either. So the book was interesting and enjoyable. Her imagery, I love that she pushed the boundaries. Jennifer James hall said that. Yeah. So, Rebecca, I totally agree with this. I have such respect for authors who can write from multiple points of view. When I was watching an interview, having this book club has been really interesting for me because I like to go and watch interviews of the author and to just kind of get into their head or whatever, which I read a lot. So I wouldn't normally do that. Like Most of the time. I don't even read a lot of repeat authors, but it was interesting how much she talked about how much she truly loved every character and when she was writing for them and how she was, like, channeling them and their energy. And so I thought that was brilliant. Okay, so let's see. I want to call on my friend Sarah Lack. And Sarah, you read the book, and Sarah is a friend of mine, and she loves to. She loves to read. She reads. I don't even know. Let's see if I can get her on and we can ask her. Hi, Sarah. Hi. How are you? Good. How are you? Good. So, Sarah, you're my. You're my fiction friend. So what do you think about the book? And did you think it was. Did you think it was hard to get into it?

Definitely took me a while to get into it, just because I couldn't track with the timeline, like, the going back and forth. For me books, a lot of times the chapter will tell you, like, 1976, 1999, and so you can track, but it didn't do that for you. It didn't give you the indicators. So that was hard for me. But once you figured it out, I feel like it was. It was fine, you know, like, the story of Amir and watching him progress was my favorite part.

Like, favorite. Like, do you have a favorite story or. Not just about him, but, like, favorite scene in the book.

I think this scene at the end of the wedding when it's him and his dad on the bench and just to watch their relationship and, like, the rawness of it and, like, his love was so evident and it didn't matter. Like, that he had gone and had the alcohol and gone to the, you know, liquor store and messed up the wedding or let you know, how do you down. It was just that he loved him. It was his son, and he was going to cover for him. And I was like, oh, my heart. Like, it was so good, and you.

Wanted him so bad to just, like, forget about everything.

Yes.

Like, go back to the family and accept their love and forgiveness. But then at the same time, you just. You. I could understand why he couldn't.

Yes, I understand. But it devastated me, the ending. I was like, no, this cannot be.

So there was one scene in the book. Now, keep in mind, I read this book a year ago, and I've read a lot of books since I read that book. So there were a couple of scenes in the book that I did that I still remembered. And one of those was the story of his spelling Test. Do you remember. Do you remember that story? And I just. I thought, like, it was just. It was one instance where you were really, really rooting for him and you're like, come on, you can do it. You can spell it. And then my sister and I were talking today. So do you think. Did he cheat or did he not cheat?

I think he cheated. It was on the bottom of his shoe.

Well, so I thought he cheated too. My sister said she thought she just. He wrote it on the bottom of his shoe, but he didn't. So I just. But I also remember, like, the sister ratting him out.

Yeah.

And just feeling so bad for him because he just wanted to prove to his dad.

Right.

He could do it. Lou says he cheated, and Jen said he didn't cheat. So it's funny. Like, it's even funny that maybe she left it open ended and you didn't really know if he actually cheated or not.

Right.

Ashley Tucker says he cheated.

I know, but what's funny is, like, the dad, regardless, like, he didn't want to punish him. Like, even, like hearing that at the end, you're like, wow, like, he did try to love him. And it was like we saw the perspective for the majority of the book that he was like this really hard, strict dad. And he was so, you know, just by the book and legalistic, but really, like, I mean, like you and Christine said his love was just so strong for his son. It was. It was just beautiful.

I thought so too. Okay. It's really funny how many people are arguing over whether he cheated or not. Lindsey Franklin says he cheated. Lisa Hughes says he didn't cheat. This makes me feel better because I thought I just couldn't remember. But I like how LD keeps saying that, you know, that he cheated because you were a teacher.

I know. I know these things, but a seizure.

You are a teacher.

I was a teacher too, but no, I just. I think maybe. I think sometimes, I mean, this is a whole nother story. Because cheating is so much easier for kids today than it was when we were kids because you actually had to, like, make a cheat sheet and, like, write stuff down. You were actually learning some of it by writing it onto these tiny pieces of paper. Now they just copy and paste their homework and give it to people or whatever. But I don't know. I always like to believe the best about people. Okay, favorite character. Who was your favorite character?

Probably Amir.

Yeah.

Just because his story was so complex and it was so beautiful and there were so many pieces that were easy to relate to. Like Hey, I don't, I don't always fit in my own family or I have felt like, you know, they don't understand me because they don't care enough to know me. And so being able to see those pieces, I have a very sometimes direct personality. And so I feel like a lot of that people see that about me. And so if you don't know my heart, it can be misinterpreted, which was, I feel like a lot of his story, like he wasn't able to say what his heart felt always. But he had such good intentions.

Yeah, he had good intentions that he couldn't quite carry them out.

I know.

And I think, I think he had good intentions. I actually think he loved his family more than he loved himself. Yeah. Because he wanted, he really wanted to be good in school and to, you know, be devout with their religion and to get along with his. He really wanted to, but then he was so self destructive, I think because he was so hard on himself. So those of you watching, I want to hear who your favorite character was. My dog drives me crazy, says Huda was her favorite character, which I think is funny because she, I thought this, I read this somewhere today. They're like, why did the author not give us much about Huda and she was the middle child? I'm like, that's because the middle child always gets overlooked. And she wasn't the middle child. She was the youngest.

Yeah. Was it. Okay, well, no, Amir was the youngest. Wasn't he the youngest? Yeah, it was Haadiya, Huda, Amir, Amir.

And then the baby that she lost was the fourth baby and they never had another baby.

Right. He would have been the boy they wanted.

Middle child gets overlooked once again.

Look at that.

Okay. Yeah, a lot of them were everybody's favorite character. Thanks for calling in, Sarah.

Thank you. See ya.

I want to talk for a second about family and because to me, one of the, one of the coolest themes was this idea of how we all are raised in and in a family. And for me personally, I think I thought my family was normal until I got married and I became part of my husband's family. And then I met other people and their families and was able to have, when I was in college, a more inside look into other people's families. And I'm not saying my family is abnormal, but everybody's family is different. And the way, even if you're raised with the same religion or the same values or in the same location or with the same culture, even within all of that, every family is so different. And one of the things that I loved about this book was this idea that you can. As a person, part of becoming yourself is analyzing what. What is my family like? And what are the things that my parents taught me and the values that they instilled in me that I want to keep and that I want to honor, and what are the things that I don't. I don't want to be a part of my life. And the things. So when you look at the girls with the. With the Hajib. The head thing, and then making their choices as to whether or not they were going to wear that, and to watch how both of them had a different reaction to that decision, and then to think about how. Hi, Abby. Abby wants to come say hi. Say hi. Hi. Who is your favorite character in what? In A Place for Us. I don't know any of the characters. Abby didn't read the book. Who's your favorite character in our family? Don't know. Okay. It's either you or Daddy. Oh.

Okay.

It's not the boys, but just this idea that as you grow and you mature, there are things that you do take away from your family. There are things that you. That you don't keep. And then maybe some people excuse you. Some people look back and they wish that there were some things that they took from their fam. There were some things that they should have kept from their family, but maybe they didn't. All right, let's jump to the ending, because I'm about to run out of time, and I have to reveal the book to you. Did you like the ending? Did you like how he. The Amar, did not come back to the family? And how even he. You are led to believe in the end that he would call and just want to hear their voices and the nephew's voice, but not actually. Not actually say that it was him or ever come home. Did you like that? I. Again, my sister and I always have this common argument, and I'm trying to see if I can get. If I can get my sister to join on, but she's not there. Oh, she's coming. She's gonna. Is she gonna request. I don't know if it's gonna work anyway, but. What were we talking about? The ending. This is why I want to talk to my sister, because my sister only likes happy endings. Okay. There she is. She says, holly, I'm here. All right, let's see if we can. It hasn't worked yet. So, Emily, we'll see. But I do want to hear how you felt about the ending. Oh, there you are.

I'm sorry. I totally forgot.

I'm sorry. Oh, okay. Did you like the ending?

No, it was the worst.

Why?

Because it's very realistic. No, it's not.

They don't know where he is.

They don't know where the guy is. Nobody knows. No, I didn't, I didn't like it at all. It makes you think, like, if it's your kid, that's like the worst feeling ever.

Well, that's true. I didn't think about that. Like, how it would feel if it was your child who felt like they couldn't be a part of your family. They didn't fit in. They never would, and they just never speak to you again.

No, it was awful.

I really was. Don't you feel like it was kind of realistic?

I loved the realisticness of the whole story. Like, you really felt like, everybody, go get in the shower.

Sorry.

Tomorrow's our first day of school. We're having problems. I think that everybody felt real and you felt the agony of just the hard relationships. You felt that. But I need to know where that guy is.

Well, did. I thought he would. I. In my mind, like, when the book ends like that. Did you. Wait, first of all, did you read the end of the book?

Well, it was hard. You couldn't figure out, like, I tried.

To read the end.

I'm like, who is this? But I didn't know it was the dad I took.

I couldn't get it.

So you tried to read the end. We're discussing a place for us, those of you just joining us. So you tried to read the end, but you couldn't?

Well, yeah, because I didn't really realize I was skipping into, was it part four or whatever it is. So I go to the end. I was like, I have no idea what's happening here. I feel like they're repeating the story. So, you know, they were repeating the story, but from a different perspective.

But when I read a book like that that leaves the ending open ended, I just make up my own ending because I'm like, I, I, I like to think, what did he actually do? Like, so I thought about, well, maybe he went and made a life for himself that, like, maybe he got himself clean and he. And then he met a good girl and then he, you know, just has a great life. Or maybe he eventually gets himself together and comes back to be a part of the family before the dad dies.

Yeah. So that's why we need a sequel then.

I know. And several people have said they think she set up for a sequel. And our mom has commented. She. She even texted me today. She thinks that there should be a sequel. I don't think. Based on the interviews that I watched of this author, I don't think that she has any intentions to write a sequel. She kind of. She was sort of like, you'll have to go and watch some stuff with her. But she sort of. Sarah says she needed more closure. She sort of acted like she was like, I have no idea what I'm going to write about next. I mean, she was basically like, it took me eight years to write this book, and I have no clue. That was sort of one of the interviews that I watched with her, which I thought was really. Was really interesting, that she. It was almost like she was so.

These.

These people were, like, real to her that she couldn't even figure out what to do.

I felt.

I felt like maybe she was. Maybe she was the middle sister she didn't really talk about very much.

That's true. That's true.

I don't think it would make a good movie, personally, because of the just ambiguousness of what was going on. Like, I think it would if it would make a good one movie, you know, maybe like a series or something.

But it was to be, like, a really dark. This is us.

Yeah.

Like a TV show.

Lifetime. This is us.

Okay. I love you, Emily. Get your kids, too. Thanks for joining us. It was really fun tonight. I love you guys. I love talking about books. It's like, my favorite thing. Bye, guys.