Left

A Novel

By: Tamar Ossowski

Narrated by: Cassandra Morris, Kim McKean, Rachel Fulginiti

Length: 8 hrs and 1 min

Publisher's Summary

Therese Wolley is a mother who has made a promise. She works as a secretary, shops for groceries on Saturdays, and takes care of her two girls. She doesn’t dwell on the fact that her girls are fatherless, mostly because her own father abandoned her before she was born and she has done just fine without him.

Even though her older daughter regularly wakes with nightmares and her younger one whispers letters under her breath, she doesn't shift from her resolve that everything will be fine. She promises... and they believe.

Until the morning an obituary in the newspaper changes everything. Therese immediately knows what she has to do. She cannot delay what she has planned, and she cannot find the words to explain her heartbreaking decision to her daughters. She considers her responsibilities, her girls, and her promise. Then she does the only thing that any real mother would do. She goes on the run with one daughter... and abandons the other.

Left is told from the perspectives of Franny, the autistic sister who is left behind; Matilda, the troubled older sister who vows to go back and save her; and Therese, a mother on the run.

©2013 Tamar Ossowski (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Very odd story

This Is one of the weirdest books I've ever listened to or read. Not in a fascinating or intriguing way but in a manner that makes me wonder what the author was thinking when they wove the story together. It was extremely hard to follow and, even though I stuck it out until the end, I don't understand much of what happened in the book. The way the characters stories weave in and out of one another is difficult to track. Maybe it would have been better if I was reading it myself. The narration was good but I, unfortunately, cannot recommend as an audio book.

Interesting, but somewhat sad

What made the experience of listening to Left the most enjoyable?

The diversity of the characters, but different readers, always a plus

What was one of the most memorable moments of Left?

Many

Which scene was your favorite?

Realizing the relationship between all the characters

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Many

Any additional comments?

Good read, somewhat sad, but good

Kept me guessing until the end!

The imagery was really vivid. I enjoyed also that there were three narrators. I glad I stumbled upon this book.

Amazing!!!

I loved this story!! Everything about it!!! As the characters spoke, so many times I felt their words. I loved this book!!!

Rather a let down

I honestly wouldn’t recommend this to anyone. Franny’s voice was interesting and her narrator was great. Therese’s story didn’t make much sense, and seemed to skip a lot of important details. I couldn’t decide if she was arrogant and naïve or if she was mentally unwell in some way. I didn’t care for her narrator. Matilda’s portion didn’t add much after the first few chapters, and I did not like for her narrator at all. It’s easy to guess the twists, but it ends so suddenly, with so many unanswered questions. Normally I love books that examine different personalities and characters, slowly unfurl the story and a deeper plot line. But this was shallow, overall uninteresting, and unfortunately a waste of time.

Beautiful

Beautiful book with twists and turns that make it interesting to listen to. Believable writing from the perspective of someone on the autism spectrum. Even though this book goes back and forth from different people’s perspectives it is easy to follow. Recommend!

I liked it.

I liked the story even though I'm struggling to understand why the mother kept all these secrets and then just left the youngest daughter without any explanation.

Fairly clean read

No foul language and only a small bit of sexual content. I appreciate writing that does not have cursing in it. The story is interesting and keeps you wondering until the end. The only trouble I had was that the readers came across at different volumes so I had to adjust my device when one character spoke. This is narrated in three views so I only had to adjust on certain chapters.

🥰

I loved, loved, loved it!! finished it in two days. I would recommend it.

Some parts were a bit slow.

Was a bit hard to get to the end of this book. Not a bad story, but I found the characters to be frustrating and disliked most of them.