The Old Place

4 4 out of 5 stars | 458 ratings

Price: 15.75

Last update: 08-26-2024


About this item

Winner of the Crook’s Corner Book Prize

One of
Vanity Fair's Best Books of the Year

A bighearted and moving debut about a wry retired schoolteacher whose decade-old secret threatens to come to light and send shockwaves through her small Texas town.

Billington, Texas, is a place where nothing changes. Well, almost nothing. For the first time in nearly four decades, Mary Alice Roth is not getting ready for the first day of school at Billington High. A few months into her retirement—or, district mandated exile as she calls it—Mary Alice does not know how to fill her days. The annual picnic is coming up, but that isn’t nearly enough since the menu never changes and she had the roles mentally assigned weeks ago. At least there’s Ellie, who stops by each morning for coffee and whose reemergence in Mary Alice’s life is the one thing soothing the sting of retirement.

Mary Alice and Ellie were a pair since the day Ellie moved in next door. That they both were single mothers—Mary Alice widowed, Ellie divorced—with sons the same age was a pleasant coincidence, but they were forever linked when they lost the boys, one right after the other. Years later, the two are working their way back to a comfortable friendship. But when Mary Alice’s sister arrives on her doorstep with a staggering piece of news, it jeopardizes the careful shell she’s built around her life. The whole of her friendship with Ellie is put at risk, the fabric of a place as steadfast as Billington is questioned, and the unflappable, knotty fixture that is Mary Alice Roth might have to change after all.


Top reviews from the United States

Shana Joyce
5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful debut novel--secrets, relationships, and HEB
Reviewed in the United States on September 20, 2022
I adored this book. It is a love letter to Texas; it is full of mystery and intrigue of sometimes unlikable characters. It captures small town Texas beautifully and showcases the power that H-E-B holds on Texans’ hearts.

The story of a woman who holds secrets of her past and it’s eating her alive without her sometimes noticing until people of the past and present come to dredge them out of her concealment. The book showcases love stories of the characters and relationships of friends and how we fall out of touch with people or push people away—and how to restart friendships and relationships.

There were moments where I was laughing and others where tears were streaming down my face. There are moments where I just wanted to hug and hold some of the characters. Finger truly brings these characters to life on the page and brings you in the moments and onto the very porch as they drink coffee.

A page turner, the progression and pace of the book pushes you to the next chapter without a care of the time—you have to know what happens next.

Final thought—read this book because I’ll never think of potato salad and sliced hard-boiled eggs the same way again, and I now I’ll bet you’ll want to know why!
Anna1
4.0 out of 5 stars First Book Read by this Author
Reviewed in the United States on September 16, 2023
The book is about three female neighbors and the sister of the main character. It took me to the end of the book to find out what the story was all about. I started a few times to quit reading it but I am one of those readers who finishes a book once I start it.
mojo
3.0 out of 5 stars Decent read
Reviewed in the United States on March 30, 2024
I love and hated this book. Most of the characters were likable, but unfortunately, the main character was not. I did finish the book and have mixed feelings about it.
SuChin
5.0 out of 5 stars Full of Surprises!!
Reviewed in the United States on November 2, 2023
It's about friendship, difficult family relationships and life's curveballs...but lest you think this is a heavy read, it's not! The ladies in the book are hilarious, complicated and lovable. Plus there are some BIG twists and turns in this book that will keep you glued. Loved it!
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SuChin
5.0 out of 5 stars Full of Surprises!!
Reviewed in the United States on November 2, 2023
It's about friendship, difficult family relationships and life's curveballs...but lest you think this is a heavy read, it's not! The ladies in the book are hilarious, complicated and lovable. Plus there are some BIG twists and turns in this book that will keep you glued. Loved it!
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Customer image
Hollie Reads Romance
4.0 out of 5 stars Small Town Secrets
Reviewed in the United States on September 20, 2022
What a sensational debut from Bobby Finger. A small town full of secrets that are waiting to burst out. This is a slower paced novel but baby just you wait. The story start zoomed in so close and then midway through the novel the lense starts to zoom out and there are secrets abound. This story is full of love, longing, regret, and friendship. I felt like I spent a slow Sunday on the porch with my family drinking tea or maybe something a little stronger and gossiping.
MEC
5.0 out of 5 stars Good book in excellent shape
Reviewed in the United States on February 12, 2024
Good service from this vendor. I enjoyed this book very much and look forward to more books from this author.
Donna A
3.0 out of 5 stars solid 3 1/2 stars
Reviewed in the United States on February 18, 2023
After forty years of teaching in a small town in Texas, curmudgeon old Mary Alice Roth, as she puts, has been forced to retire. She is at a loss as to what to do with her time .. other than showing up at school and harassing her replacement. The only bright light is her morning coffee with her friend Ellie. Mary Alice and Ellie were close for years, their two sons were best friends but the death of the two boys put a strain on their friendship. As they both started to re-build their friendship what Mary Alice does not need is for her estranged younger sister Katherine show up at her doorstep with some shocking news. It has now come for Mary Alice to finally face up to so secrets that she has been harboring for years .. secrets that she feels that once found out will have lots of ramifications for her and for the people that it touched.

The Old Place is a story of secrets and lies, shame, grief, learning to forgive and accept forgiveness, it is also a story of acceptance. At times it was heartwarming at time sad.

The Old Place is Bobby Finger’s debut novel and on the whole, it was a decent first novel. Although I love small town stories about family, friends, and love interest, I did feel at times the story was slow, melodramatic, and lost focus. There were a few side stories that Mr. Finger seem to throw in the novel that nothing came of it. The ending was little abrupt and tied up nicely in a little bow. This debut novel was a solid 3 1/2 stars.

The was an audiobook was narrated by Barrie Kreinik, she was a first time narrator for me, and I thought she brought the characters to life. My only complaint is sometimes I thought there was a Mary Ellen in the book.
Edna C. Wichman
4.0 out of 5 stars home town story
Reviewed in the United States on May 12, 2023
A story that anyone who grew up in a small town will recognize. Family secrets revealed although some seem to know. Death of 2 sons and a friendship that continued.

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