Review “In an enthralling novel reminiscent of Anne Tyler’s Ladder of Years, a woman who recently suffered a heart attack runs away to recover her equilibrium.”—O, The Oprah Magazine   “This surprising, compassionate story brings to life the secret, guilty fantasy of many overworked moms.”—People   “Gayle Forman is known for her dreamy but hard-hitting young adult novels, including the best-selling If I Stay.  With her first foray into grown-up fiction, Leave Me, she doesn’t shy away from the tough questions in this deep-diving and highly entertaining read. It’s hard not to relate to—and root for—Maribeth even as she does the unthinkable: abandons her children.”—Family Circle   “entertaining… Forman's novel is a gritty fairy tale. But as in every fairy tale, she taps into people's fears and dreams, and she imparts a little wisdom along the way.”—Minneapolis Star-Tribune   “Popular teen author Forman’s adult debut examines just what it means to be a working mother—beholden to everyone, seemingly obligated to forget who you really are. Maribeth’s search for her birth mother and the way she settles into her new—albeit temporary—life away from home will strike a chord with readers, especially those who enjoy Jennifer Weiner and Meg Wolitzer.”—Booklist, starred review   “You may already know Gayle Forman from her incredible YA novels, such as the classic If I Stay. [Leave Me] is her first adult novel, and it's (unsurprisingly) fantastic.”—Bustle.com   “Absorbing…LEAVE ME deftly explores the domestic struggles of 21st-century bourgeois life. This is an insightful ode to – and cautionary tale for – the overburdened working mother.”—BookPage   “Forman, known for bestselling YA drama If I Stay, shines in this exploration of some very grownup angst in her adult fiction debut. A nuanced take on the idea of wanting to “have it all”—and knowing when to give it all up.”—B&NReads.com   “Poignant, thoughtful and often hilarious, Leave Me is a fast-paced and heartwarming read about a woman needing to give up everything in order to have it all. In this thoughtful and funny novel, after suffering a heart attack, a harried young mother leaves home to regain health and balance while seeking out her birth mother.”—Shelf Awareness for Readers   “Leave Me is popular YA author Gayle Forman’s first novel aimed at adult readers, and here’s hoping it won’t be her last.”—Bookreporter.com   “As a first foray into adult novel writing, Gayle Foreman’s Leave Me is successful.... It will be interesting to see what she does next.”—NY Journal of Books   “YA author Forman’s successful foray into adult fiction…With humor and pathos, Forman depicts Maribeth’s complicated situation and her thoroughly satisfying arc, leaving readers feeling as though they’ve really accompanied Maribeth on her journey.”—Publishers Weekly   “Award-winning teen author Forman's (I Was Here, 2015, etc.) adult debut nails the frustrations of working motherhood…. An appealing fairy tale for the exhausted and underappreciated.”—Kirkus Reviews   “Subplots involving a hint of romance and a search for her biological mother, as well as a group of entertaining supporting characters, keep the plot moving…. All in all, Leave Me will leave readers introspective about their own lives and the compromises they make with themselves to stay with those they love.”—Nashville Scene “At times funny, at times heartbreaking, Leave Me is a promising entrance into adult genres for the already-bestselling author.”—Foreword Reviews “How do we reinvent ourselves when we can’t even recognize the body we are in? Can you know where you’re headed if you don’t know where you came from? These are the questions faced by the prickly Maribeth, the complex and fascinating character at the center of Leave Me. In her first novel for adults, Forman reminds the reader that the answer to both questions involves getting to the heart of the matter.”—Jodi Picoult, author of Leaving Time “Told with humor and heart, Leave Me reveals that sometimes you have to leave everything you treasure in order to find your way back home. A moving testament to the persistence of love and the healing power of forgiveness.” —Tayari Jones, author of Silver Sparrow   “Here’s to complicated women and the authors who write them! Whatever the age of her characters, Gayle Forman is a compassionate, gifted observer of women’s lives.”—Gabrielle Zevin, author of The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry   “Forman’s stinging portrayal of Maribeth’s recovery process had me cringing with sympathy for her: her husband lets the housework pile up, refusing to take responsibility while she is sick, instead calling in Maribeth’s own mother as reinforcement. Leave Me’s real strength is in the development of its characters, and the web Forman weaves is complex and riveting, as each relationship thread is pulled taut.”—B&NReads.com "Forman is a gifted storyteller whose characters are flawed and engaging."—Charleston Post & Courier   Read more About the Author Gayle Forman is a bestselling, award-winning author of young adult novels. Leave Me is her first novel for adults. Her novel If I Stay won the 2009 NAIBA Book of the Year Award and was a 2010 Indie Choice Honor Award winner. The film adaptation of If I Stay was released in 2014. Forman is also a journalist whose articles have appeared in numerous publications, including Seventeen, Cosmopolitan, and Elle. She has visited more than forty countries and wrote a nonfiction book about her travels titled You Can’t Get There from Here: A Year on the Fringes of a Shrinking World. Forman lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her husband and two daughters. Read more See all Editorial Reviews
C**P
The worst part begins after she gets home
We all get overwhelmed at times. Want to pick up and check out of life. Some people day dream about it. The central character in Gayle Forman’s LEAVE ME does it for real.The protagonist is overwhelmed to say the least. She works a full-time job, while managing her twins’ schedules, her husband also works but seems to have no clue about what she is dealing with, as he isn’t paying much attention to the day-to-day. She literally has a heart attack and doesn’t know it and plows through it until at a doctor’s appointment that afternoon, mind you, after she has taken her kids to school, walked blocks to both school and the appointment, among other things, and her doctor sends her straight to the ER. After a routine procedure, something goes wrong and another major surgery takes place. She has yet to reach her husband because he never answers his phone. Needless to say, she is freaking out and has had, oh yes, a heart attack and she is only in her early 40s.The worst part begins after she gets home. Her mother comes to ‘take care’ of the kids, while she recuperates, which means that she is essentially not able to rest because nobody in her family can take care of anything without her help, or so she feels. She becomes so frazzled, so you get what happens next. She decides to pick up and leave one day. With no warning of where she is going or what she is doing. Because she doesn’t even know.When she arrives at her destination, she begins a new life. With no contact whatsoever with her family. Reading it you definitely find it odd. If you are a parent, mother or father, you will feel a weird sensation – how can she possibly do this to her spouse, her children, her friends. The betrayal. Read on. I am still not sure that I can imagine this happening in real life. But people are driven to do things if they are pushed hard enough. LEAVE ME offers an insightful look at modern life, marriage, friendships, motherhood, careers and how it all comes together, or perhaps needing to leave in order to make it all come back together, for everyone.
S**S
In what seems like an incredibly short recovery period
Single Sentence Summary: Maribeth Klein decides to leave her own home after having a heart attack and getting little support from those closest to her.Primary Characters: Maribeth Klein – in her early forties, Maribeth is the harried working mom of 4-year old twins. Maribeth does it all! (There are many other characters, but all are supporting to Maribeth, This is her story.)Synopsis: Maribeth Klein first notices she’s feeling off when working late one evening. Before she is forced to pay serious attention to herself she comes home, sleeps fitfully, walks her twins ten blocks to preschool, takes the bus home, does some work, walks to meet a friend for coffee, visits her CPA, and then finally goes to see her OB/GYN for a long overdue exam. It’s that doctor who finally recognizes Maribeth’s symptoms.Maribeth isn’t really convinced that she’s had a heart attack until she’s being wheeled in to have a stent put in her heart. That procedure goes awry and Maribeth ends up having double bypass surgery. In what seems like an incredibly short recovery period, Maribeth is sent home with lots of instructions for a new lifestyle and a lot of fear. No one in her life gets how terrified Maribeth is. They seem to expect her to just pick up where she left off, but Maribeth can’t do that. As she gets more and more frustrated with those around her, Maribeth’s fear grows until she realizes she needs to leave. And that’s what she does.Review: Hasn’t every woman dreamed of leaving her family at one point or another? When my sons were in middle school, I had this reoccurring fantasy about escaping to Hawaii – alone. All alone! In Leave Me, Maribeth knew that she had to figure out how to live her life differently and she came to realize that she couldn’t do that while living in her old life.“She was dancing on a surfboard, juggling knives, while they all went about business as usual. But it wasn’t business as usual. She’d had open-heart surgery.”I really liked that aspect of this book. While gone Maribeth learned about herself, how to care for herself, and how to live without fear. She did this on her own and with a fun cast of characters that populated her new life.Even though I loved the “change” element of Leave Me I found the actual leaving part too much. While it’s a great fantasy, the way Maribeth left was a hard premise for me to swallow. I was frustrated with her inability to communicate with the people in her life. The motivation for her leaving was definitely built into the story, but to just walk out with 4-year olds and then have no communication for weeks and weeks? Gayle Forman’s previous books were young adult, and the way Maribeth left felt a little young adult to me. Despite that, I enjoyed the rest of Leave Me. I cheered for Maribeth as she went through her metamorphosis. It really was a very fun, fast book to read. Perfect for this time of year. Grade: B[...]
J**L
Well-paced, good story
I admit it. I really enjoyed this novel. It felt real and possible to me.Maribeth is a forty-something editor who lives in NYC with her twins and husband, but her life is insane with work and children and insufficient time for anything else. When she has a heart attack, it spirals completely out of control so she does what many women fantasize about doing - she runs away from home.Is this high art? No, but the author did her homework when it comes to the medical information and searching for birth parents. Definitely a good summer read.
B**C
An enjoyable, relatable read
This is a fast read, with likeable but imperfect characters, a premise that is completely relatable to many working mothers, and a conclusion that is satisfying even though incomplete.While to some extent i felt "how could she leave her kids", on the other hand I could understand the desire to escape and just worry about myself for awhile. Maybe I felt a blend of jealousy that she could do that and guilt that I'd want to do it too!I don't fully get how she could be gone so long, especially over the holidays.I would have liked to see more introspection on her part, perhaps a bit more thought about how to improve her career and her relationship with Elizabeth by separating work from friendship.Not a book I'm likely to think back on years from now, but it was a fun read.
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