Wow! Really? Those were the words that immediately popped into my mind when I read the last words of Leaving. These words reflect the emotions that Roxana Robinson often coaxed out of me. Her writing was slow and steady, seamlessly moving between characters and time. Yet always just around the corner was another "leaving." Some were short-term, daily events, like leaving for work or dropping off the kids; others were perhaps permanent. Some expected and wanted. Others dreaded. The book made me realize how often we leave, sometimes with no consequences, sometimes life changing. I also pondered, like the characters, the depth and validity of the vows we make.

I loved how Ms. Robinson painted pictures with her unique phrases: Sarah inches her way to "join the slow scrum in the aisle." Upon greeting her dog, "the dog twists with pleasure." "a pale chunk of butter … skates across the slick black surface, sizzling." (Wow! Really?)

Ms. Robinson made me think and feel — that is what a good novel does!