From the home of literature, the DUBLIN Literary Award is proudly sponsored by Dublin City Council & administered by Dublin City Libraries
DUBLIN Literary Award
DUBLIN Literary Award
           
Facebook Twitter Pinterest linkedin Telegram
DUBLIN Literary Award
  • Home
  • The Books
  • The Judges
  • The Libraries
  • FAQs
  • The Archive
  • News
Menu
DUBLIN Literary Award
Sold out
HomeBooks2019 The Leavers
Previous product
Of Darkness
Back to products
Next product
The Barrowfields

The Leavers

Author: Lisa Ko

Lisa Ko’s powerful debut, The Leavers, is the winner of the 2016 PEN/Bellwether Prize for Fiction, awarded by Barbara Kingsolver for a novel that addresses issues of social justice.

One morning, Deming Guo’s mother, Polly, an undocumented Chinese immigrant, goes to her job at a nail salon-and never comes home. No one can find any trace of her.

With his mother gone, eleven-year-old Deming is left mystified and bereft. Eventually adopted by a pair of well-meaning white professors, Deming is moved from the Bronx to a small town upstate and renamed Daniel Wilkinson. But far from all he’s ever known, Daniel struggles to reconcile his adoptive parents’ desire that he assimilate with his memories of his mother and the community he left behind.

Told from the perspective of both Daniel-as he grows into a directionless young man-and Polly, Ko’s novel gives us one of fiction’s most singular mothers. Loving and selfish, determined and frightened, Polly is forced to make one heartwrenching choice after another.

Set in New York and China, The Leavers is a vivid examination of borders and belonging. It’s a moving story of how a boy comes into his own when everything he loves is taken away, and how a mother learns to live with the mistakes of the past.

About the author

Lisa Ko’s fiction has appeared in Best American Short Stories 2016, Apogee Journal, Narrative, Copper Nickel, the Asian Pacific American Journal, and elsewhere. She has been awarded fellowships and residencies from the New York Foundation for the Arts, the MacDowell Colony, the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Writers OMI at Ledig House, the Jerome Foundation, and Blue Mountain Center, among others. She was born in New York City, where she now lives. Visit her at lisa-ko.com.

Librarian’s comments:

A touching, compelling portrayal of the modern immigrant experience.

  • Additional information
  • Libraries Ireland - Find This Book
Additional information
Author

Lisa Ko

Country

US

Nominating Library

Kansas City Public Library, USA

Publisher

Algonquin Books, USA

Libraries Ireland - Find This Book

Libraries Ireland Encore System

Search for this book in the Dublin City Library Encore system and arrange a suitable location for loaning it.

Search Encore for The Leavers

This search result is offered as a helping hand to find books in the Library Ireland Encore System. Some results may not be accurate where book titles have common words with similar titles. 

Category: 2019
Share
Facebook Twitter Pinterest linkedin Telegram
ABOUT DUBLIN CITY LIBRARY & ARCHIVE

Dublin City Libraries, a service of Dublin City Council, is Ireland’s largest library service, with responsibility for the delivery of high quality, effective public library, information and archive services to a resident population of over half a million people.

Designated as a UNESCO City of Literature in 2010, Dublin City Libraries aims to maximise opportunity for all – individuals and communities – through guided access to ideas, learning, literature, information and heritage resources supported by cultural programming.

Cookie Information

This website uses Cookies. Continued use of the site will be deemed as your acceptance of this necessity.

Connect with us
           
Quick Links
  • Home
  • The Books
  • The Judges
  • The Libraries
  • FAQs
  • The Archive
  • News
DUBLIN Literary Award. Dublin City Library & Archive. 138 - 144 Pearse Street, Dublin 2. Ireland. Email: literaryaward@dublincity.ie. Tel +353 1 6744802. Copyright © 2019 Dublin City Libraries.
Website by JET Design
close
Start typing to see products you are looking for.
  • Home
  • The Judges
  • The Books
  • The Libraries
  • FAQs
  • The Archive
  • News
Scroll To Top