The Leavers

Novel by Lisa Ko

The Leavers

First edition cover

Author| Lisa Ko
Audio read by| Emily Woo Zeller
Genre|

* Bildungsroman

Publisher| Algonquin Books

Publication date

| May 2, 2017
Publication place| United States
Media type|

* Print (hardcover)
* Print (paperback)
* Digital (ebook)
* Digital (audiobook)

Pages| 338 pp.
(hardcover 1st ed)
Awards|

* PEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction[1]
* Asian/Pacific American Awards for Literature, Adult Fiction[2]

ISBN| 9781616206888
OCLC| 953599445
LC Class| PS3611.O135 L43 2017
Website| http://lisa-ko.com/theleavers

The Leavers is Lisa Ko's first novel published on May 2, 2017, by Algonquin Books.

## Background

[edit]

Ko's novel was inspired by a 2009 article in The New York Times describing an undocumented immigrant from Fuzhou, China, who was arrested at a Greyhound station in Florida on her way to a new job and spent a year and a half in detention.[3]

## Plot

[edit]

Told in four parts, the novel begins as Deming Guo's mother Polly suddenly disappears from the family's New York City apartment without warning. Deming is placed into foster care, ultimately to be adopted by a suburban couple, Kay and Peter. Five hours away from the city in Ridgeburough, Deming Guo becomes Daniel Wilkinson. Deming/Daniel searches for a sense of connection, belonging, and identity in a new home with a new family.

Part II introduces Polly's story.

## Reception

[edit]

Writing for The New York Times, Gish Jen praised the novel for taking the headline-news of immigration and "remind[ing] us that beyond [that] lie messy, brave, extraordinary, ordinary lives."[4] At the same time, Jen felt the prose was overly expository and that some conservative plot points mark "this book as one that takes risks but then hedges its bets."[4]

Reviewing the novel for The Guardian, Arifa Akbar felt, "The Leavers ... themes of displacement and deportation carry deep and desperately urgent resonances far beyond America, and fiction. Ko movingly captures Polly and Deming's liminal presence in the immigrant community, on the margins of society in overcrowded apartments, in nail parlours and factories, who are always there yet invisible to the rest of us."[5]

## Awards

[edit]

The Leavers received the PEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction and a nomination for National Book Award for Fiction.[6]

Year  | Award  | Category  | Result  | Ref.

|
|
|
|

2016  | PEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction | —  | Won  | [7]
2017  | Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature | Adult Fiction  | Won  | [8]
Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Award | Fiction  | Shortlisted  | [9]
National Book Award | Fiction | Shortlisted  | [10]
2018  | Aspen Words Literary Prize | —  | Longlisted  | [11]
New York City Book Awards Hornblower Award for First Book | —  | Won  | [12]
PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel | —  | Shortlisted  | [13]
2019  | International Dublin Literary Award | —  | Longlisted  | [14]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "2016 PEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction". PEN America. Retrieved July 23, 2024.
2. ^ "2017-2018 Awards Winners". Asian Pacific American Librarians Association. Retrieved July 23, 2024.
3. ^ Weiss-Meyer, Amy (May 14, 2017). "'The Leavers' Is a Wrenching Tale of Parenthood". The Atlantic. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
4. ^ a b Jen, Gish (May 16, 2017). "Migration, a Makeshift Family, and Then a Disappearance". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
5. ^ Akbar, Arifa (April 22, 2018). "The Leavers by Lisa Ko review – quietly sensational story of migrants' plight". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
6. ^ "The Leavers". National Book Foundation. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
7. ^ kanopi_admin (February 23, 2016). "2016 PEN Literary Award Winners". PEN America. Retrieved December 4, 2024.
8. ^ "2017-2018 AWARDS WINNERS – APALA". February 11, 2018. Retrieved December 4, 2024.
9. ^ Mangan, Christine. "Shelf Awareness for Thursday, March 8, 2018". www.shelf-awareness.com. Retrieved December 4, 2024.
10. ^ "Lisa Ko". National Book Foundation. Retrieved December 4, 2024.
11. ^ Travers, Andrew (December 12, 2017). "Aspen Words announces longlist for new literary prize, faculty for Summer Words". www.aspentimes.com. Retrieved December 4, 2024.
12. ^ "The 2017-2018 New York City Book Awards | The New York Society Library". www.nysoclib.org. Retrieved December 4, 2024.
13. ^ Johnson, Kirk Wallace. "Shelf Awareness for Monday, April 2, 2018". www.shelf-awareness.com. Retrieved December 4, 2024.
14. ^ IGO (September 3, 2019). "The Leavers". Dublin Literary Award. Retrieved December 4, 2024.

*[OCLC]: Online Computer Library Center number
*[LC Class]: Library of Congress Classification