From the bestselling author of If I Stay and I Was Here comes a stunning new novel for Forman’s adult readers, an unflinching portrait of a woman confronting the joys and sorrows of marriage, motherhood and friendship. Meet Maribeth Klein, a harried working mother who is so busy taking care of her husband and twins that she doesn’t even realise, working late one evening, that she has had a heart attack.
Afterwards, surprised to discover that her recuperation seems to be an imposition on those who rely on her, Maribeth does the unthinkable – she packs a bag and leaves. Far from the demands of family and career, and with the help of new friendships, she is finally able to own up to the secrets she has been keeping from herself and those she loves.
With bighearted characters who stumble and trip, grow and forgive, Leave Me is about facing the fears we are all running from. Gayle Forman has written an irresistible novel that confronts the ambivalence of modern motherhood head on and asks, what happens when a grown woman runs away from home?
Maribeth was the woman trying to have it all - husband, kids, home, career, when she has a heart attack, which prompts her to leave. She just packs up, jots a note to her husband, boards a train, and leaves. This time away from her life gives her time to really evaluate the things she has, the things she's lost or believes she's lost. It gives her time to acknowledge things she has been ignoring for a long time.
This one really tugged on my heart. The way Maribeth had to face her past head-on in order to move forward. The way she felt like everyone left her: her mother, her husband, her best friend. The terror she felt that she would leave her children forever, and they would be motherless. Forman does such a wonderful job exploring all those emotions and all the different types of relationships one can be a part of. She also does a fantastic job bringing Maribeth to that place of self realization.
I loved the way Forman flashed back to give us a better picture of what was going on in Maribeth's head. She shared some painful and beautiful moments. I was also very fond of the people she brought into Maribeth's life to help her through her personal crisis. The emotional balance and pacing were perfect for me. The very, very end sort of fell flat for me -- and I mean the very last page, but overall I really enjoyed Forman's first foray into adult fiction.
