What We Leave Behind: A Novel

by Sue Halpern, Allyson Ryan (Read by), Alexa Elmy (Read by)

Overview

From the author of Summer Hours at the Robbers Library, a tenderhearted story of two very different women grappling with the messy emotional legacies passed down by their parents—for fans of Dani Shapiro, Ann Napolitano, and Jody Picoult.

It’s the perennial question: are we a product of how we were raised, or is our identity hardwired by our genetic inheritance? When her adoptive mother dies in a freak accident, high school senior Melody Marcus doubles down on her refusal to learn anything about her birth parents. In this age of 23&me, though, that may not be possible, and the secrets hidden in her DNA threaten to upend everything she knows about herself and her family. 

For Candace Milton, a successful woman in her forties, the collateral damage from her parents’ tortured marriage has led to a life of intentional unattachment. She is happy—enough. But a chance encounter with a friend of Melody’s father will challenge this assumption and force her to reimagine who she is and who she might become.

Big-hearted evocative, and achingly relatable, What We Leave Behind grapples with destiny, belonging, and love, and makes us question our own idea of family: the kind we’re born into and the kind we create.  

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798228471528
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	06/24/2025
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 5.70(h) x (d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Sue Halpern received her doctorate from Oxford University in 1985 and first began teaching at Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons. She is the author of Four Wings and a Prayer, Migrations to Solitude, and two books of fiction. Her work has appeared in the New Yorker, the New York Times, Rolling Stone, Conde Nast Traveler, and the New York Review of Books, among other publications. She lives in Ripton, Vermont, with her husband, writer Bill McKibben, and their daughter, Sophie, and is a scholar-in-residence at Middlebury College.

Alexa Elmy is a New York City-based actor, voice-over artist, and audiobook narrator. Her acting credits include the TV show Shattered (Investigation Discovery), Innards (Troma Entertainment), Ray Gun Sayonara (New Ohio Theatre), and a voice-over for Google. She holds a BA in acting from Fordham University and has also trained at Stella Adler Studio of Acting, London Dramatic Academy, and Abacus Entertainment. As a classically trained actor, she is a vocally versatile narrator. She has recorded titles in a variety of genres, including fiction, young adult, romance, mystery, contemporary nonfiction, fantasy, and sci-fi, among others.

Allyson Ryan is a voice-over actress and AudioFile Earphones Award–winning audiobook narrator. She also has extensive experience on stage and screen.

Editorial Reviews

04/28/2025

The lukewarm latest from Halpern (What We Leave Behind) follows two women struggling to maintain their sense of self during a time of upheaval. Melody, 17, has just lost her adoptive mother in a freak car accident. Her father, Eddie, is paralyzed by grief, leaving Melody to mourn in her own way. Having lived in foster care as a young girl, she’s angry at the lack of clarity about her origins. She rebels, threatening to forgo college to work on an organic farm. A parallel narrative centers on 40-something Candace, an unmarried HR professional. When her company moves from New York City to Connecticut, she buys a house where she hosts Thanksgiving with friends, during which a guest rescues her neighbor, Tom, after he falls through the ice on a nearby pond. As Candace and Tom become friends and discover a romantic spark, she’s forced to confront the limits of her desire for independence. Conveniently, Tom and Eddie were college buddies, so Halpern manages to link Melody’s and Candace’s stories. Halpern is a master wordsmith, but the narrative itself offers few surprises. This fails to make much of an impact. Agent: Kim Witherspoon, InkWell Management. (June)

Publishers Weekly

Whether they’re related by blood, law, or the more contingent bond of friendship, Halpern’s beguiling, prickly characters achieve small but indisputable measures of grace as they reckon with their families of origin…with superb plotting and raucous wit added to the mix.”

author of Fun Home Alison Bechdel

"Sue Halpern’s latest novel takes on the eternal big questions (identity, fate vs. free will) as well as many of their modern permutations (the pandora’s box of genetic testing, the bankruptcy of meritocracy) in a novel that’s as propulsive as it is philosophical. Whether they’re related by blood, law, or the more contingent bond of friendship, Halpern’s beguiling, prickly characters achieve small but indisputable measures of grace as they reckon with their families of origin. With superb plotting and raucous wit added to the mix, What We Leave Behind is a deliciously absorbing read." — Alison Bechdel, author of Fun Home

“A novel that is populated with complex yet sympathetic characters who will touch readers’ hearts and open their minds.” — Library Journal

“Halpern’s well-developed characters and complex family relationships will appeal to fans of contemporary relationship fiction writers like Jodi Picoult or Sue Miller.” — Booklist

From the Publisher

04/11/2025

When Delia Marcus, former litigator and now stay-at-home wife and mom, is killed in an accident, she leaves behind her bewildered husband and her 17-year-old daughter Melody, who had been studying for her SATs but is now confused and rudderless. Also left behind is an urn of Delia's ashes and the full story of Melody's adoption at the age of three. Melody visits a friend at Wesleyan University in Connecticut and considers her options: should she apply to college or take a gap year? Meanwhile, 40-year-old Candace Milton finds herself in her own life quandary, when an encounter with a friend of Melody's father makes her feel that she lacks—and desperately needs—emotional attachment, despite her successful career and seemingly good life. What, if anything, will she leave behind one day? VERDICT Halpern, author of moving and lyrical fiction like Summer Hours at the Robbers Library, as well as notable nonfiction including A Dog Walks into a Nursing Home, writes a novel that is populated with complex yet sympathetic characters who will touch readers' hearts and open their minds.—Marcia Welsh

Library Journal