The Leavers

How do you know who you are if you have no idea where you came from? Especially as you find yourself half-formed, trap between two identities, two families and two entirely different worlds? 

Those are the questions Deming faces, first as a child whose Chinese mom goes to work and never comes home, then again as a grown man named Daniel Wilkerson, the product of white parents in upstate New York.

The Leavers began for me as a slow burn. I knew I liked it and it kept me interested, but it didn't seem to be going anywhere fast. Still, the story of this young boy and his broken, uncertain childhood kept me engaged. When it picked up, it picked up and carried me through to a purely satisfying end.

When Deming mom heads to work and doesn't return, it was easy for me to hate her - to chastise her for her extreme selfishness. Then, I ached for his adoptive mom, who clearly tries everything she can to be a mother to someone not willing to give up the woman who left him behind. I ached for Deming/Daniel as he struggled at every turn to find his way in the world. Then, I was mad at him for giving up too easily.

That's what life is, right? No easy path, no clear direction, often more mess than masterpiece. And, as Deming finds his mom and begins to understand the story of why she left, the book picked up in pace, intertwining all those feelings at once.

This book is about family and culture and identity - and, what happens when the lines between all of those things blur. It's also a story deeply relevant today about the indiscriminate way some immigrants are snatched away from all they've ever known without a chance to say goodbye.

The Leavers is beautiful and simple and heart-wrenching and honest. If it takes a bit to grab your interest, stay with it. What it reveals is worth the wait.