LEAVING by Roxana Robinson

This powerful novel explores issues of love and familial responsibility, that arise in the wake of a love affair between two people who rediscover each other in midlife.

Sarah is divorced, her children grown, when she reconnects with Warren, by chance. She has built her life around raising her children and being deeply engaged in her work, and is hesitant to become romantically involved with Warren, who is still married.

But the two dated during college, and there is something unfinished between them. Back then, Sarah was frightened by what she perceived as Warren’s recklessness and unreliability, and she ended their relationship abruptly, and without explanation — then married someone else.

When they meet again, Warren is restless in his marriage and still deeply drawn to Sarah. As their relationship deepens, he decides to marry her. But as he begins the process of divorce, his wife and daughter join forces to pressure him into staying in the marriage. His daughter, an unforgettable and pivotal character in this novel, is angry on behalf of her wounded mother, and enraged by her father’s duplicity. She tells him she will not include him in her upcoming marriage or allow him any contact or involvement with his grandchildren unless he reconciles with her mother.

At first Warren is in denial about his daughter’s threat, but he quickly comes to see that she intends to behave exactly as she’s promised. He loves his daughter and can’t imagine his life without her and so, with deep sadness, he gives up his relationship with Sarah and returns to his loveless marriage.

However, despite reconciling with his wife, years go by and Warren realizes his daughter will never forgive him for what she perceives as his betrayal of her mother and their family. She remains distant, rejecting and unforgiving towards him, even after she demands that he break off all contact with Sarah, which he does.

Warren longs for Sarah and thinks of her almost daily. As decades pass, he grows despairing about his empty marriage, his daughter’s persistent refusal to forgive him, and the loss of his greatest love. Finally, he decides to end his own life, an outcome both surprising but understandable.

The strength of this novel lies in its deep emotional specificity when it comes to each character’s interior life. The characters are so well drawn and the daughter’s role in dividing Sarah and Warren, is unexpected, but cruel, and believable.