The Leaving

Ireland, 1968. At nineteen, she is determined that her life will amount to more than what others expect of her.

She wants a university education, a chance to write, the freedom to travel, and a love that offers the intellectual and emotional companionship she longs for. But the road to independence is not straightforward. Family circumstances constrain her choices, her feelings for Liam refuse to conform to reason, and each new disappointment sends her back to the familiar task of trying to improve herself.

If she can become more beautiful, more accomplished, more confident - if she can learn enough, achieve enough, become someone exceptional - perhaps she can finally build the life she imagines.

As she studies for her examinations, works to save money and considers the possibility of leaving Ireland, she begins to question some of the assumptions that have governed her ambitions. Yet insight does not come easily, and knowing what she wants is not the same as knowing how to get it.

On the threshold of a new life, she must leave behind the familiar without knowing quite who she will become.