The Leavers

A Novel

By: Lisa Ko

Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller

Length: 14 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

One morning, Deming Guo's mother, an undocumented Chinese immigrant named Polly, goes to her job at the nail salon and never comes home. No one can find any trace of her. With his mother gone, 11-year-old Deming is left with no one to care for him. He is eventually adopted by two white college professors who move him from the Bronx to a small town upstate. They rename him Daniel Wilkinson in their efforts to make him over into their version of an "all-American boy". But far away from all he's ever known, Daniel struggles to reconcile his new life with his mother's disappearance and the memories of the family and community he left behind. Set in New York and China, The Leavers is a vivid and moving examination of borders and belonging. It's the story of how one boy comes into his own when everything he's loved has been taken away - and how a mother learns to live with the mistakes of her past.

©2017 Lisa Ko (P)2017 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

Overly dramatic narration.

Story bogged down by excessive descriptive details. Appreciated the socio-cultural story line. May have been more enjoyable to read rather than listen to as an audiobook.

Great story horribly read

The story was beautifully written and very interesting but difficult to listen to give in the odd accents and tonation of the reader. This is a time to get old fashioned and just read the book.

Reader wasn't loud enough

The story is exceptional but ruined by the reader whose whispered tone and selected overdramatizations were distracting and hard to follloe

Awful narration

The narration makes this story very difficult to listen to. She alternately whispers and yells, and, as others have mentioned, is overly dramatic. She frequently sounds like she's crying, or at the very least, severely depressed, and many of her character portrayals are ridiculous sounding caricatures.

Narrator is off-putting, histrionic, and limited

Any additional comments?

I will finish this audiobook by reading it. As much as I enjoyed the story of an adopted Chinese boy, and felt the author captured the spirit of her characters, I couldn't abide the narrator, whose voice was grating, and who offered too many passages in a kind of screechy, histrionic fashion that I found unbearable.

I couldn't wait for it to end!!

Spoiler alert in review~

I really enjoyed the book for the first 80%. I was so upset and disturbed by the ending in that Daniel basically abandoned his adoptive parents and went back to his biological mother disregarding the people who basically gave him a life. I have a half sister who was adopted and many friends who have adopted children. How rude and insensitive to basically throw away the people who raised you, loved you, provided for you and wanted so badly to have you.

A Journey of Identity

Being a minority in America creates a natural tension between who you are in your community and who you are in the context of white America. I live this daily so I identified with Demming in this story. He is on a journey, a painful one, to understand who he is while trying not to disappoint those who already have defined him. I enjoyed the way the author takes the time to draw out all the diificult and heartwarming aspects of Demming and Polly's lives. I truly enjoyed the book. My only criticism is with the narrator who was overly melodramatic with some of the white characters. She made the mother sound like she was constantly on the verge of a breakdown although the dialogue didnt support that.

Loved this book!

This book was a great listen. I enjoyed the narration and the story kept me engaged.

Good but not quite a classic yet

I’d say this is an author to watch. Some of the character development was a bit weak and there were a few too many cliched themes, particularly with relation to the adoptive parents. Unlike many reviewers here, I thought the narration was good but, yes, occasionally a little over dramatic. That said, I think she conveyed the passion of the characters well.

somewhat dark story.

the book gives the reader a glimpse into the life of immigrants a well as broken relationships. I was left with the question, do we really overcome the imprint left by the environment we grew up in.

Realistic portrayal of the impact of trauma for mother and son

This story raises the issues a child and mother experience when they are forcefully and unexpectedly separated. It looks at the journey through the care system and cross cultural adoption, and the boys difficulties finding an identity and sense of belonging. It looks at migration, poverty and the financial and emotional costs of illegal immigration. Despite the heavy subject matter it gives some indications of hope, family connections, nature’s calming influence, true friendship and coming of age experiences. I enjoyed the story and the narration which brought the characters to life.

Can’t wait for the next Lisa Ko novel...

Absolutely loved this book. Complex, ambitious and perfect in its structure, covering decades, cultures and continents. The narration was simply brilliant, the narrator moving between male and female, young and old, voicing each character bringing them fully and distinctly to life. I can’t believe this was Lisa Ko’s first novel- for me it was on a par with Franzen and Donna Tartt’s best offerings.