Leaving: A Novel
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3.9 • 247 Ratings
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
“Wondrous.… This insightful, complex story about a late-in-life romance is unforgettable.” —Joan Frank, The Washington Post
What risks would you be willing to take to fall in love again?
“I never thought I’d see you here,” Sarah says. Then she adds, “But I never thought I’d see you anywhere.”
Sarah and Warren’s college love story ended in a single moment. Decades later, when a chance meeting brings them together, a passion ignites threatening the foundations of their lives. Since they parted in college, each has married, raised a family, and made a career. When they meet again, Sarah is divorced and living outside New York, while Warren is still married and living in Boston.
Seeing Warren sparks an awakening in Sarah, who feels emotionally alive for the first time in decades. Still, she hesitates to reclaim a chance at love after her painful divorce and years of framing her life around her children and her work. Warren has no such reservations: he wants to leave his marriage but fears how his wife and daughter will react. As their affair intensifies, Sarah and Warren must confront the moral responsibilities of their love for their families and each other.
An engrossing exploration of the vows we make to one another, the tensile relationships between parents and their children, and what we owe to others and ourselves, “Leaving is a tour de force—unfailingly clear-eyed, and its final impact shatters." (Washington Post)
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
A long-neglected flame is reignited in this thoughtful novel about love, commitment, and living with our choices. Sarah and Warren were infatuated with each other during college, but a misunderstanding led Sarah to suddenly end their relationship. When they unexpectedly meet up again, 40 long years later, their love affair rekindles. Author Roxana Robinson effortlessly brings us into her two characters’ worlds as they reminisce about their young love, evaluate their marriages, and navigate all the contradictory feelings that come with a satisfying extramarital relationship. We were particularly fascinated by the way Sarah’s and Warren’s respective bonds with their adult children prompt them to examine their feelings about commitment and obligation. Leaving is a beautiful and reflective story that explores what it means to move through different seasons of your life.
Customer Reviews
Makes one think
The best depressing story I have ever read.
Disappointed
Very little happened. The lovers spent a lot of time in thought justifying their affair, then justifying their break up. The ending, however, was the biggest disappointment. No reason for that.
Engaging
This book made me mad at times but mostly very sad