Leave Me: A Novel

I enjoyed this book immensely. All of the characters were so interesting that I had a hard time putting Gayle Forman's book "Leave Me" down. Maribeth Klein was such an amazing character that got me so invested in what she was going to do next. Simply loved this book.

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 [...]

If you are mother, could you ever imagine leaving your kids? No matter what the reason? What if you had a heart attack and when trying to recuperate, it was clear that you were a burden on your family, so you went back to the same old habits? And at some point, it became the straw that broke the camel’s back? Maribeth Klein, (the main character in Leave Me by Gayle Forman) is one of those women. After her heart attack, she can’t take the stress of having to take over all of the old parenting and household duties, so she writes a note to her husband, Jason and then she just leaves. Takes money out of their joint account and gets on a train. Leaving them. Her family, to fend for themselves. And for the first month, she doesn’t even attempt to contact her family. Some days, her kids barely register a thought, while on others, she is consumed with guilt for abandoning them and at having left her husband to care of them all by himself. I must admit that I could not understand Maribeth’s actions, but then I am not a mother. For a good portion the book I found myself furious with her, for her actions, her thoughts and her complete disregard for a family that she claims to love. Her husband Jason, at first seemed cold and uninterested in their lives and in her. Somewhere along the lines, Gayle Forman was expertly able to change my view on both Maribeth and Jason. While I never ended up loving Maribeth, I began to feel sympathetic towards her. With Jason, you saw him trying to work through his problems, pick up the slack in his family and be a real dad, and most of all, be there for his wife. Ms. Forman’s ability to portray the characters and have you feel one in emotion towards them for most of the book and then make them more compassionate and somewhat likeable was truly impressive. While I enjoyed this book, I just didn’t love it and that was mainly due to my dislike of Maribeth. That said, I have to give kudos to Ms. Forman for fantastic character development. In my opinion, the ending of the novel was tied up a little too nicely. Considering Maribeth’s despicable actions, I felt that to be implausible, which only added to my disappointment of this book. Published on Goodreads and Amazon on 9/18/16.

Es un libro fácil de leer y quizás la fantasía oculta de cualquier mujer con hijos y marido. Describe cómo la mujer, a pesar de haber conseguido muchos derechos , aún en el ámbito familiar queda mucho por hacer. No he podido parar de leer, he devorado el libro. Es una reflexión para aquellas mujeres que no delegan. Para mí ha sido una reflexión del NO A LAS SUPERWOMEN, NO deberíamos ser superwomen, pues si lo somos es pq algo no va bien.

I loved this book, there were parts that made me cry, laugh and make me think. I couldn't do what Maribeth did, but I can see it was right for her. The ending was unexpected, I'd have liked to have read more, but isn't that just like life?

Many reviews of this book (outside Amazon) made it look like the Protagonist of this book is selfish. Honestly, in my view, the book is a wonderful take on the dilemmas that women face in life, especially once they become a mother. Everyone around them forget that they are actually a human being with needs, wants and if not anything, REST!! Starting off to be emotional and little sad, the book ends beautifully with a powerful message. One needs to do what one needs to do, sometimes. I also liked the way the husband's character has been shown in the book. No moral judgement, just good reading!!

To me, this was a really moving and multilayered story. Sad, because it is about losing things and people (including oneself). And hopeful, because it is also about finding things and people again (again, including oneself). It's also about the complexity of all kinds of relationships and about misunderstandings. And it's about a lot more. It doesn't tell everything there would be to tell, but it tells so much. I really didn't want to lay it down once I started and I got very much hooked in a different way than I'm used to with books and stories. The main thing wasn't that it was so full of suspense and that I was so eager to find out what happens next (of course, that as well, but > ). Rather, I was really drawn into the emotions, thoughts and the journey of Maribeth. It was a really calm and at the same time intense sort of story-obsession, which I hadn't really felt before this way. And, as with every story, another piece making my horizon a little broader. Thank you for this!

Nice story, no tragedies, kept me page turning to the last page. Would recommend it as a good holiday read