When People Leave
A Story of Love, Lies, and Finding the Truth
Following a sisters’ search to understand their mother’s death, When People Leave is a stirring novel.
In Leslie A. Rasmussen’s domestic novel When People Leave, family members learn valuable lessons about their relationships.
Morgan, Charlie, and Abby are sisters coming to terms with the death of their mother, Carla. Carla was a single mother who led a quiet life until her abrupt and unexplained suicide. Each chapter switches perspectives between the sisters as they upend their messy personal lives to move back home and investigate Carla’s last days.
Morgan, the eldest, is a recovering alcoholic plagued by loneliness. Charlie, in the middle, is a therapist in a dead-end relationship with a noncommittal, immature boyfriend. Abby, the youngest, is an overwhelmed stay-at-home mother with four children. Their mother’s death forces them all to face the problems in their lives.
The sisters’ search for answers leads them to Las Vegas and New York City, described from a tourist’s perspective. Features of their surroundings become symbols of their pain. For example, Abby’s admiration for Brooklyn’s art museums opens her up to her grief; she reflects on her and Carla’s shared love of Pablo Picasso. Sensory details flesh the story out further: The scent of perfume is like fog in a mountain range, giving added shape to the sisters’ impressions.
In conversation, the sisters trade barbs followed by loving reminders of their shared pain. Being under the same roof again brings tension; Charlie judges Morgan for her addiction, and both resent Abby’s air of superiority regarding motherhood. How the same upbringing shaped them differently is intriguing. The sisters make questionable decisions, but their search to understand their mother’s death is stirring. As they encourage each other to reflect on their lives and regrets, they grow and change for the better.
The pacing is uneven. Incidental subplots, such as a chapter on the family of Carla’s childhood friend, are given ample space; imperative factors, such as the start of Morgan’s alcoholism, are rushed through. More balance exists in the cast’s relationships, with the sisters’ private lives developed in full—Abby’s children are compared to koalas as they cling to her, for example—and in a way that supports their common goals. After they resolve their feelings about their mother’s death, the sisters move on to their personal issues, pushing toward bright, positive futures.
When People Leave is a powerful novel about loss, family devotion, and trying to change for the better.
Reviewed by
Anna Karnedy
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book and paid a small fee to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. Foreword Reviews and Clarion Reviews make no guarantee that the publisher will receive a positive review. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
