The Leaf Queen

by Janet Roberts

Are some wounds impossible to recover from? While studying abroad in Ireland, American graduate student Dina makes the heart-wrenching choice to give up her daughter for adoption. The grief and trauma of her desperate loss follow her back to America where, as she works to put her life back together with the help of her sister, she ultimately seeks love and comfort in all the wrong places creating even more turmoil for herself. When Dina is diagnosed with cancer, she must decide if courage and hope will prevail or if she will succumb to the overwhelming grief that haunts her life. Will Dina finally break under the strain of loss or can she find a way to forgive herself and find love before it's too late?

296 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 13, 2016

About the author

Janet Roberts is a former global leader in cybersecurity education. Her fiction is set wholly or partially in Western PA, where her roots run deep. Her readers know to expect a female character who awakens to the discovery of her own inner strength while facing adversity. Her award-winning novel What Lies We Keep (2024) combined cybersecurity with domestic suspense and was the winnder of: 2024 Literary Titan Silver Award, Firebird Book Award, Pencraft Summer Awards for Literary Excellence -Suspense, and 2025 International Impact Book Awards - Contemporary Fiction/Realistic Fiction. It was a 2024 Finalist for the American Writing Awards’ Hawthorne Prize, 2024 American Fiction Awards – Best New Fiction, and 2024 American Book Fest Best Book Awards – Best New Fiction. Her poetry has been published in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and in San Fedele Press’ Art in the Time of COVID-19. A member of Women’s Fiction Writers Association, Pennwriters, and Sisters in Crime, she lives in Pittsburgh. She loves travel, wandering through bookstores in other countries, reading on her porch swing, and sharing a bottle of wine with friends. Learn more about her at www.booksbyjanetroberts.com

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Reviews

[Cindy Roesel · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Surely it is much more generous to forgive and remember, than to forgive and forget.” Maria Edgeworth, Irish Writer, 1767-1849
Are some wounds impossible to recover from? In THE LEAF QUEEN by Janet Roberts, Dina, a young American student studying in Ireland gets pregnant and makes the difficult decision to give her daughter up for adoption. To fully understand the scope of this situation, readers learn, Celia was raised Catholic and her earliest childhood memories, being hungry and homeless with two drug-addicted parents.
Her grief and trauma follow her back to Pennsylvania, where her older sister, Celia steps back into the role of wanting to protect Dina. She tries to put her life together, but finds herself loving a guy not worth loving and then diagnosed with cancer. Her married sister, Celia tells her she’s pregnant and a new sliver of hope sparks in Dina’s life. Dina will have to find courage she never knew she had, while completely changing her whole attitude, if she has any chance of living to see her niece grow up or having a second chance at happiness.
Janet Roberts has created an intensely intimate portrait of two sister’s love. Dina and Celia have grown up knowing all only have each other and they’re determined to do anything to keep that bond. THE LEAF QUEEN also has a subtle Irish folklore feel to it. When their parents were finally gone, Celia and Dina were raised by their Granny Mauve from the “old country,” who instills in them, the love of their Irish heritage, particularly for Dina the poetry of Keats. There is that looming undercurrent unique to the Irish, that if possible, a situation can always get worse. But surprising Janet Roberts gives readers an ending that’s not cliché or contrived, just perfect and hopeful.

[Sheila · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Life is messy,” in Janet Roberts’ The Leaf Queen. People make judgements without knowing the details, and decisions without knowing the consequences. Guilt and pain ensue. But the story’s threaded with the promise of hope, unfurling slowly like an Irish dawn filled with light and shade. Even wrong relationships can have beautiful consequences. And the sins of the parents don’t always define the paths of the children they bear.

Compelling multi-dimensional characters, haunting back-story, and a lyrical writing style make this a truly enjoyable read. Part Maeve Binchey, part modern American, the story blends Catholic angst, family ties, rebellion, romance and creativity into a novel that ties its loose ends beautifully without being manipulative. I really enjoyed it.

Disclosure: I got it on a deal and I offer my honest review.

[Mary Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely enjoyed The Leaf Queen, I could not put this down.. Janet Roberts has a gift that really transports you into the story. She allowed me to feel the breeze and sand at Presque Isle, the brisk winter air and the emotion of the story. Her tender style is truly from the heart; she brought back memories of growing up in Erie and having an Irish grandmother.

[Mj · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not your usual way to get to Happy ever after

I loved this book. First because it was fun reading about my home town being woven into it. Second, Just when I thought it was the ending there was more to peel away from the main character. The author didn't just let the story end with the reader thinking what will really happen to this girl in the end. I was surprised she brought the final love of the main character in as a black man. It was eased in and revealed with little hints one at a time. By the then you loved him for the sweet understanding guy he was that it didn't matter, If it mattered at all. I am excited to meet the author at our luncheon at the end of the month right here in Erie Pa.

[Cynthia · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well written story that invites you into the lives to two sisters as they grow beyond a childhood of neglect and hard fought for survival. You learn the characters through the quickly told history of three generations of women grandmother, mother and sisters. The younger sister, our central character, is a seemingly fragile young woman who has been unlucky in love more than once. One of these ill-fated relationships produces a daughter that she gives up for adoption without telling her older protective sister. She does not easily recover from this decision and when we meet her years later at a time when her sister marries and has her first child, she still wonders what would have happened if she made a different choice. She is a lonely even in a relationship and when she enters yet another bad relationship, the consequences of her past, her sorrow and her willingness to settle for less than she deserves become clear. Then comes the life twist, a diagnosis of cancer. I won't give away the story because it is well told, with well developed characters that you will love or hate. This is GOOD book and a recommended book club selection. Lots to discuss. I had only one problem with the story. The book goes on after I think it should have ended. Actually I think there are 2 good story lines after what I thought was the ending. It distracted from what would have otherwise been a stellar ending. Hence my 4 star review.

[D.L. Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

New favorite book

I loved this book. It's a story of sisterly love, making choices, and living with them. Dina and her older sister Celia are raised by their Irish grandma. Celia thinks she's the strong one and Delia is the dreamer, the poet, in as world of fairies and leprechauns. Through many trials in her life, Dina shows that she's stronger than she thinks.
This is a beautifully written story, with lush descriptions of Ireland, Erie, PA, and NYC. The characters, the plot with its twists and turns and the lovely dialogue bear the marks of an exceptional writer.
I recommend this book to anyone looking for an emotional, heartfelt read. I look forward to reading more of Janet Roberts' books.

[Pamela Barrett · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is a lyric in an old rock/blues song that goes “if it wasn’t for bad luck, I would have no luck at all,” well that is Dina’s life story in the Leaf Queen. From her childhood onward she just can’t seem to catch a break. When we first meet her, she has left her hometown in America and moved to Ireland. While there she falls in love with the worst guy for her and he breaks her heart. Then she gives birth to his child and gives the baby up for adoption which breaks her heart again; and this is in the first few chapters. When Dina returns to America she tries to start over and goes to be with her sister CeCe, the only family she has left. CeCe is more stable but has unresolved issues from their childhood. I know this sounds dark and depressing but it is a story about healing.
Dina is smart, artistic, sensitive and talented but emotionally stunted, and anyone, including me, who has made bad choices will relate to her. The author has done a great job taking us into Dina’s thought process, and also in telling the story through different characters. Only one thing kept me from giving this novel a 5 star rating and that was an incident that happens towards the end, because I wondered if it was necessary? No spoiler alert because I’d like to know what other readers think. I’m giving The Leaf Queen 4 stars for the writing, and a good story. Finally, I have just one little warning about some sexual content.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Amazon Order Details Order #D01-3410196-6089857
Placed on Saturday, April 7, 2018

[Miriam Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Beautiful, Painful Adult Coming of Age Novel

The very real, very human, multilayered occupants of the world this writer has created pull the reader in with tender, almost magical force and love. No-one is perfect, no-one has all the answers to the many complex issues they must all face. Courage, love, a willingness to grow and change and a desire to make their lives, and the lives of those they care fiercely about, BETTER...allow the sisters at the heart of this beautiful novel become the best human beings they can be.