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Leaving Now
In Leaving Now Arleen Paré, winner of the 2008 Victoria Book Prize, weaves fable, prose and poetics to create a rich mosaic of conflicted motherhood. Set in the volatile 1970s and ’80s, when social norms and expectations were changing rapidly, Leaving Now is the emotionally candid story of a mother’s anguish as she leaves her husband to love a woman. In this second book, Paré masterfully blends aspects of her personal journey with her own version of a well-loved fairy tale. Gudrun, the five-hundred-year-old mother of Hansel and Gretel, appears hazily in the narrator’s kitchen—presumed dead, all but written out of her own tale, but very much alive. Gudrun spins a yarn of love, loss and leaving, offering comfort and wisdom to the conflicted young mother.
Raising children is not for the faint of heart; all parents know the anguish of parting from a child, even if for the briefest moment. Leaving Now is for mothers, fathers, sons and daughters. It is for anyone who has ever lived in a family.
Raising children is not for the faint of heart; all parents know the anguish of parting from a child, even if for the briefest moment. Leaving Now is for mothers, fathers, sons and daughters. It is for anyone who has ever lived in a family.
168 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2012
31 people want to read
About the author
Arleen Paré
14 books7 followersArleen Paré is a Canadian writer. She has published two collections of poetry and a novel to date.
Originally from Montreal, Quebec, Paré was educated in social work and adult education, and worked in social services in Vancouver, British Columbia for much of her professional career. She later left her social services job to study creative writing at the University of Victoria.
Her first book, Paper Trail, was published in 2007. A blend of poetry and prose about a businesswoman finding herself stifled by the weight of corporate bureaucracy, the book was a shortlisted nominee for the Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize in 2008, and won that year's City of Victoria Butler Book Award. She followed up with the novel Leaving Now in 2012.
Her 2014 poetry collection Lake of Two Mountains won the Governor General's Award for English-language poetry. [wikipedia]
Originally from Montreal, Quebec, Paré was educated in social work and adult education, and worked in social services in Vancouver, British Columbia for much of her professional career. She later left her social services job to study creative writing at the University of Victoria.
Her first book, Paper Trail, was published in 2007. A blend of poetry and prose about a businesswoman finding herself stifled by the weight of corporate bureaucracy, the book was a shortlisted nominee for the Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize in 2008, and won that year's City of Victoria Butler Book Award. She followed up with the novel Leaving Now in 2012.
Her 2014 poetry collection Lake of Two Mountains won the Governor General's Award for English-language poetry. [wikipedia]
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 10, 2012
About halfway through and love this writers narrative. Part novel, part poetry, all good.
A woman, married with two sons, finds out that her husband is cheating and that she, herself, is a lesbian. The woman leaves her married life to follow her dreams. Fantastic narrative, detailed, symbolic, touching, raw and genuine, you cannot help but be drawn in. Another gifted Canadian author to watch. I loved the honesty and the pain of dividing her time with her children and her own love life. A fairytale is tied in throughout the book.
The only downside was that I didn't want to book to end. Must read. Quick and introspective.
A woman, married with two sons, finds out that her husband is cheating and that she, herself, is a lesbian. The woman leaves her married life to follow her dreams. Fantastic narrative, detailed, symbolic, touching, raw and genuine, you cannot help but be drawn in. Another gifted Canadian author to watch. I loved the honesty and the pain of dividing her time with her children and her own love life. A fairytale is tied in throughout the book.
The only downside was that I didn't want to book to end. Must read. Quick and introspective.
March 2, 2014
I have also read Paper Trail by Arleen Pare, and I love her writing style -- poetry and prose, mixed with truth and fantasy. She uses the element of fairy tale, in both books, to bring the reader into a different realm, and to give the density of the subject matter a new perspective. We take a leap of faith with the author, weaving through the complexities of the real world. Leaving Now is a brave, heartbreaking account of separating the love of child and love of self. I have two young boys, and therefore cringed in some parts and triumphed with the author in others. I felt her anxiety of push and pull... the obligation to always be there, clashing with the obligation to be happy and live a full and true life.
February 15, 2013
Beautifully written story that I read more a a memoir than a novel because it is so intimate in tone. My favorite parts involved the fairy tale mother of Hansel and Gretel. Part poetry, part prose, another example of Pare's experimentation with form. I wish it had been longer.
August 19, 2016
A genre-bending novel, told in prose and poetry, folding in fable and magic realism. The story of a mother choosing to leave her husband and children, paralleled with the story of Gudrun. Strange, often poetic, beautiful. Some of the lines flattened me.
February 6, 2016
HE LEAVES HIS FACE IN THE FUNERAL CAR
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews