About this item
Highlights
- From the author of Summer Hours at the Robbers Library, a tenderhearted story of two very different women grappling with the messy emotional legacies passed down by their parents--for fans of Dani Shapiro, Ann Napolitano, and Jody Picoult.It's the perennial question: are we a product of how we were raised, or is our identity hardwired by our genetic inheritance?
- Author(s): Sue Halpern
- 352 Pages
- Fiction + Literature Genres, Coming of Age
Description
About the Book
"From the author of Summer Hours at the Robbers Library, a tenderhearted story of two very different women whose lives intersect in surprising and endearing ways, perfect for fans of Joanna Goodman, Patry Francis, and Susan Henderson Reeling after her mother's unexpected death, adopted high school senior Melody is left to work through her grief in the midst of school and college applications-and under the shadow of her own future. Suddenly reconsidering everything she once took as certain Melody must piece together the fragments of her once happy family, and the future feels more uncertain than ever before. Meanwhile, Candace is an independent workaholic uninterested in relationships or children. Her quiet life is interrupted, however, when a casual Thanksgiving dinner turns into a rescue mission for a stranger and his dog. Through a tangled web of connections, she becomes acquainted with Melody's father, Eddie, and her once regimented life takes an unexpected turn. Bighearted and deeply relatable, What We Leave Behind grapples with destiny, belonging, and love and makes us question our own idea of family: the kind you're born into and the kind you create"--Book Synopsis
From the author of Summer Hours at the Robbers Library, a tenderhearted story of two very different women grappling with the messy emotional legacies passed down by their parents--for fans of Dani Shapiro, Ann Napolitano, and Jody Picoult.
It's the perennial question: are we a product of how we were raised, or is our identity hardwired by our genetic inheritance? When her adoptive mother dies in a freak accident, high school senior Melody Marcus doubles down on her refusal to learn anything about her birth parents. In this age of 23&me, though, that may not be possible, and the secrets hidden in her DNA threaten to upend everything she knows about herself and her family.
For Candace Milton, a successful woman in her forties, the collateral damage from her parents' tortured marriage has led to a life of intentional unattachment. She is happy--enough. But a chance encounter with a friend of Melody's father will challenge this assumption and force her to reimagine who she is and who she might become.
Big-hearted evocative, and achingly relatable, What We Leave Behind grapples with destiny, belonging, and love, and makes us question our own idea of family: the kind we're born into and the kind we create.
Review Quotes
"Sue Halpern's latest novel takes on the eternal big questions (identity, fate vs. free will) as well as many of their modern permutations (the pandora's box of genetic testing, the bankruptcy of meritocracy) in a novel that's as propulsive as it is philosophical. Whether they're related by blood, law, or the more contingent bond of friendship, Halpern's beguiling, prickly characters achieve small but indisputable measures of grace as they reckon with their families of origin. With superb plotting and raucous wit added to the mix, What We Leave Behind is a deliciously absorbing read." -- Alison Bechdel, author of Fun Home
"A novel that is populated with complex yet sympathetic characters who will touch readers' hearts and open their minds." -- Library Journal