Leave Me

By: Gayle Forman

Narrated by: Eva Kaminsky

Length: 8 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's summary

For every woman who has ever fantasized about driving past her exit on the highway instead of going home to make dinner, for every woman who has ever dreamed of boarding a train to a place where no one needs constant attention - meet Maribeth Klein, a harried working mother who's so busy taking care of her husband and twins, she doesn't even realize she's had a heart attack.

Afterward, 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. But, as is so often the case, once she gets to where she's going, she sees her life from a different perspective. Far from the demands of family and career, and with the help of liberating new friendships, Maribeth is finally able to own up to secrets she has been keeping from those she loves - and from herself.

With big-hearted characters who stumble and trip, grow and forgive, Leave Me is about facing our fears. Gayle Forman, a dazzling observer of human nature, has written an irresistible novel that confronts the ambivalence of modern motherhood head-on.

©2016 Gayle Forman (P)2016 Recorded Books

Critic reviews

"Eva Kaminsky's narration is at once uniquely emotional and quietly familiar.... Each character in this novel has his or her own voice, thanks to Kaminsky's skill. Personalities emerge with nuances of timbre and tone.... Listeners will be reluctant to leave." ( AudioFile)

Wonderful

Beautifully written and perfectly read. I was completely engaged beginning to end. I loved it.

A walking in almost every woman shoes.

I thought it was a great read that depicted and moms everyday struggle in life with relationships friends, work, children, husband and trying to balance life. Everyone can identify with that feeling of waiting for the other shoe to drop. The Journey of the character trying to find her identity was very relatable. Great read

Great novel

Another great book by Gayle Forman! A little mad at the ending but that's because I wanted more....

Pleasantly Surprised

I downloaded this book months ago but never got around to reading it. Gayle Forman has written such great books that I bought it as soon as it was released, but the subject matter did not seem interesting. When the audiobook was on sale, I bought it too. I read the reviews and was afraid I would be disappointed. It was SO much better than the other reviews said. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to it and would recommend it to anyone. I could see how people would not sympathize with the main character but I think once you understand her, it all makes sense. Well written, well read, and worth full price!

Thrilling but disappointing

I was hooked throughout the entire story... until the end. It feels like the author just stopped one day and said: the end. Very unfulfilled.

Heart attack causes self absorbed regression!

Unlike some of the reviews, I finished the whole thing. It only got worse. Parenthood's middle name is sacrifice, which Mary Beth seemed to forget. I can understand burnout, but this was irritating, not sympathy inducing. The ending was rushed. Just take a pass. Go find a better book.

Lacking

I liked the narrator and found elements of the story interesting/ relatable. But overall I struggled to accept how one- dimensional the characters were and how unlikely a devoted mom would be to leave her two children. The ending was absolutely unsatisfying.

Leave Me.

Great book. The too frequent notifications of the complete identity and address of electronic messaging was disruptive to to a good read. Frankly, annoying.

Enthralling book but needs a better ending

I enjoyed the story and could feel MB's overwhelm, but when she finally makes a decision about her family we are left to imagine the reunion. Wish it were better ended better.

Emotional, Satisfying, All the Feels

Gayle Forman is one of my favorite YA authors, and so I was thrilled to see her make her Adult debut with Leave Me. She brings “all the feels” we’ve come to expect from her work in this new venture. Leave Me centers around an overworked magazine editor/wife/mom who takes drastic measures to reclaim her life when she has a heart attack at 44. She picks up and leaves everyone behind to take charge of her own recovery when she can’t get a break at home.

Maribeth works full-time at her lifestyle magazine job, manages the household and takes charge of her preschool-age twins. Her husband works long hours and assumes a less active role at home. When Maribeth has a sudden heart attack, the pieces of their lives start to unravel. Husband Jason enlists Maribeth’s mother to help pick up the slack, but she is not as supportive to Maribeth or her family as she could be. When a lice outbreak strikes both twins at once, Maribeth has had enough.She leaves everything behind to take charge of her recovery.

Forman makes Maribeth’s story so relatable with showing the exhaustion and stresses of trying to do it all. It’s hard to imagine leaving your kids behind but given her situation it didn’t seem that she had much choice. Maribeth’s story of self-discovery is fulfilling and satisfying and felt very real but still like an escape.

Eva Kaminsky is a new-to-me narrator, and she is a good fit for Leave Me. She conveyed the stresses in Maribeth’s life well so it was easy to understand Maribeth’s desire to leave for some much-needed R&R. Kaminsky’s voice lent the appropriate emotional tone for this journey and made each character sound distinct. I did speed up the pace to 1.5x to better suit my taste and that worked well. This is an audiobook I didn’t want to put down.

Fans of Forman’s YA books should give this one a try, and also recommended for readers of authors like Karma Brown and Taylor Jenkins Reid.