10 Top novels books like Leaving by Roxana Robinson

Cover of Leaving by Roxana Robinson

Leaving

By: Roxana Robinson

3.87

Format: 344 pages, Hardcover

What risks would you be willing to take to fall in love again? “I never thought I’d see you her…

"Being a mother is paying it forward, sending that energy and feeling to someone who needed it at first to survive, but who, the older she becomes, needs you less. The older you become, the more irrelevant you are."

-Roxana Robinson, Leaving

"Being a mother is paying it forward, sending that energy and feeling to someone who needed it at first to survive, but who, the older she becomes, needs you less. The older you become, the more irrelevant you are."

-Roxana Robinson, Leaving

"The justification for leaving a marriage was that you were increasing the sum of happiness in the world. You were ending your own unhappiness, and your spouse’s (if you weren’t happy, your spouse couldn’t really be happy, either), and he or she would find real happiness elsewhere. The children had only known an unhappy marriage. Now they would learn what happy parents are like, and they would become happier, and able to create happy marriages themselves. But actually all this is false and self-serving. The only person whose happiness is increased is the departing spouse. There are no moral grounds for leaving a marriage. You are breaking your vow and causing pain to others. It is selfish, cruel, and dishonorable. How could he have lived with that?"

-Roxana Robinson, Leaving

"The justification for leaving a marriage was that you were increasing the sum of happiness in the world. You were ending your own unhappiness, and your spouse’s (if you weren’t happy, your spouse couldn’t really be happy, either), and he or she would find real happiness elsewhere. The children had only known an unhappy marriage. Now they would learn what happy parents are like, and they would become happier, and able to create happy marriages themselves. But actually all this is false and self-serving. The only person whose happiness is increased is the departing spouse. There are no moral grounds for leaving a marriage. You are breaking your vow and causing pain to others. It is selfish, cruel, and dishonorable. How could he have lived with that?"

-Roxana Robinson, Leaving

If you liked the novels plot in Leaving by Roxana Robinson , here is a list of 10 books like this:

Cover of After Annie by Anna Quindlen

1. After Annie

By: Anna Quindlen

4.03

Format: 304 pages, Hardcover

When Annie Brown dies suddenly, her husband, her four young children and her closest friend are lef… read more

Similar categories in Anna Quindlen's After Annie book and Roxana Robinson's Leaving

  • adult fiction
  • literary fiction
  • family
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • audiobook
Cover of James by Percival Everett

2. James

By: Percival Everett

4.54

Format: 303 pages, Hardcover

A brilliant, action-packed reimagining of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn , both harrowing and f… read more

Similar categories in Percival Everett's James book and Roxana Robinson's Leaving

  • audiobook
  • literary fiction
  • fiction
  • novels
Cover of Leaving by Roxana Robinson

3. Leaving

By: Roxana Robinson

3.87

Format: 344 pages, Hardcover

What risks would you be willing to take to fall in love again? “I never thought I’d see you her… read more

Similar categories in Roxana Robinson's Leaving book and Roxana Robinson's Leaving

  • romance
  • adult fiction
  • literary fiction
  • love
  • marriage
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • family
  • novels
  • audiobook
"Being a mother is paying it forward, sending that energy and feeling to someone who needed it at first to survive, but who, the older she becomes, needs you less. The older you become, the more irrel…"

-Roxana Robinson, Leaving

"The justification for leaving a marriage was that you were increasing the sum of happiness in the world. You were ending your own unhappiness, and your spouse’s (if you weren’t happy, your spouse cou…"

-Roxana Robinson, Leaving

Cover of Long Island (Eilis Lacey, #2) by Colm Tóibín

4. Long Island (Eilis Lacey, #2)

By: Colm Tóibín

3.82

Format: 294 pages, Hardcover

From the beloved, critically acclaimed New York Times bestselling author comes a spectacularly movi… read more

Similar categories in Colm Tóibín's Long Island (Eilis Lacey, #2) book and Roxana Robinson's Leaving

  • literary fiction
  • family
  • fiction
  • audiobook
Cover of Real Americans by Rachel Khong

5. Real Americans

By: Rachel Khong

4.04

Format: 416 pages, Hardcover

From the award-winning author of Goodbye, Vitamin: How far would you go to shape your own destiny?… read more

Similar categories in Rachel Khong's Real Americans book and Roxana Robinson's Leaving

  • adult fiction
  • literary fiction
  • family
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • audiobook
"She wasn't normal and so I wasn't either. I resented that part the most."

-Rachel Khong, Real Americans

"It was a habit, with my parents: omitting information, not wanting to worry them unnecessarily. Though they’d raised me so American, I could never manage the sorts of American relationships my friend…"

-Rachel Khong, Real Americans

"With each other they spoke loudly: Their voices periodically rose to excited shouts, and they laughed raucously. In English they were milder mannered, polite. My mother had always spoken English to m…"

-Rachel Khong, Real Americans

Cover of Absolution by Alice McDermott

6. Absolution

By: Alice McDermott

3.81

Format: 324 pages, Hardcover

A riveting account of women’s lives on the margins of the Vietnam War. In Saigon in 1963, two yo… read more

Similar categories in Alice McDermott's Absolution book and Roxana Robinson's Leaving

  • adult fiction
  • literary fiction
  • fiction
  • novels
  • audiobook
Cover of Table for Two by Amor Towles

7. Table for Two

By: Amor Towles

4.26

Format: 464 pages, Hardcover

From the bestselling author of The Lincoln Highway, A Gentleman in Moscow, and Rules of Civility, a… read more

Similar categories in Amor Towles's Table for Two book and Roxana Robinson's Leaving

  • audiobook
  • literary fiction
  • fiction
  • contemporary
"And though she couldn’t remember the exact reference and whether it was from mythology or the Bible, she knew instinctively as they approached the pier’s limit she mustn’t look back."

-Amor Towles, Table for Two

"It is a funny aspect of life, thought Charlie, how a group of grown people can convince themselves to do something that none of them really want to do. They start by talking an idea into existence. O…"

-Amor Towles, Table for Two

Cover of The Paris Novel by Ruth Reichl

8. The Paris Novel

By: Ruth Reichl

3.84

Format: 288 pages, Hardcover

Bestselling author Ruth Reichl takes readers on an adventure of food, art, and fashion in 1980s Par… read more

Similar categories in Ruth Reichl's The Paris Novel book and Roxana Robinson's Leaving

  • romance
  • adult fiction
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • audiobook
"That is the most expensive spice in the world. It comes from the Valley of Flowers, where everyone's hands are red from separating the saffron from the blossoms. Each flower has just three strands, s…"

-Ruth Reichl, The Paris Novel

"The fat was bubbling in a pot on the stove. The potatoes went in, were snatched out, then plunged back in. They emerged crisp and golden; Richard sprinkled them with salt and piled them on a platter,…"

-Ruth Reichl, The Paris Novel

"The oysters arrived on a deep bed of ice. She had never eaten an oyster, and she stared down at the platter. A ruffle of black encircled each opalescent heart; she thought of orchids. Triangles of le…"

-Ruth Reichl, The Paris Novel

"A waiter set a small tart of caramelized pears before each of them and added a dab of licorice ice cream. Next came bananas topped with passion fruit and black pepper, little pirouettes of pleasure. …"

-Ruth Reichl, The Paris Novel

Cover of Help Wanted by Adelle Waldman

9. Help Wanted

By: Adelle Waldman

3.62

Format: 288 pages, Hardcover

In Help Wanted, Adelle Waldman brings her unparalleled wit and knack for social observation to the … read more

Similar categories in Adelle Waldman's Help Wanted book and Roxana Robinson's Leaving

  • adult fiction
  • literary fiction
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • novels
  • audiobook
Cover of Welcome Home, Stranger by Kate Christensen

10. Welcome Home, Stranger

By: Kate Christensen

3.44

Format: 224 pages, Hardcover

From the PEN-Faulkner Award-winning author of The Great Man comes a novel about grief, love, growin… read more

Similar categories in Kate Christensen's Welcome Home, Stranger book and Roxana Robinson's Leaving

  • adult fiction
  • literary fiction
  • family
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • novels
  • audiobook
Cover of Within Arm's Reach by Ann Napolitano

11. Within Arm's Reach

By: Ann Napolitano

3.48

Format: 352 pages, Paperback

A tender and perceptive debut novel about three generations of an Irish American family jarred into… read more

Similar categories in Ann Napolitano's Within Arm's Reach book and Roxana Robinson's Leaving

  • adult fiction
  • literary fiction
  • marriage
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • family
  • audiobook
Cover of Lucky by Jane Smiley

12. Lucky

By: Jane Smiley

3.13

Format: 384 pages, Hardcover

From the best-selling, Pulitzer Prize–winning writer, a soaring, soulful novel about a folk musicia… read more

Similar categories in Jane Smiley's Lucky book and Roxana Robinson's Leaving

  • adult fiction
  • literary fiction
  • family
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • novels
  • audiobook
Cover of This Strange Eventful History by Claire Messud

13. This Strange Eventful History

By: Claire Messud

3.63

Format: 448 pages, Hardcover

An immersive, masterful story of a family born on the wrong side of history, from one of our finest… read more

Similar categories in Claire Messud's This Strange Eventful History book and Roxana Robinson's Leaving

  • literary fiction
  • family
  • fiction
  • audiobook
"Family life, like playing chess, involved always thinking several steps ahead."

-Claire Messud, This Strange Eventful History

"Literature... Now, that's a religion I can believe in. That is perhaps my God."

-Claire Messud, This Strange Eventful History

"... she'd been a fool, enamored of a figment, had created the soul of a man who never existed -"

-Claire Messud, This Strange Eventful History

"All-U-Can Hi-way 4-Sale Thru. This American English thrilled him - its energy, its freedom, its carelessness."

-Claire Messud, This Strange Eventful History

Cover of Sandwich by Catherine Newman

14. Sandwich

By: Catherine Newman

3.75

Format: 229 pages, Hardcover

From the beloved author of We All Want Impossible Things, a moving, hilarious story of a family sum… read more

Similar categories in Catherine Newman's Sandwich book and Roxana Robinson's Leaving

  • adult fiction
  • literary fiction
  • marriage
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • family
  • novels
  • audiobook
"What does loss look like, in your body? Where is it? It feels like an air bubble stuck in your psyche. It feels like peering down into a deep hole. The vertigo of that. The potential for obliteration…"

-Catherine Newman, Sandwich

"We're just ruined by sex, women---our bodies, our psyches. We're sexually assaulted every five minutes. We're infected with everything. Traumatized by conceiving, by not conceiving. But let's keep at…"

-Catherine Newman, Sandwich

Cover of How to Read a Book by Monica Wood

15. How to Read a Book

By: Monica Wood

4.29

Format: 288 pages, Hardcover

A charming, deeply moving novel about second chances, unlikely friendships, and the life-changing p… read more

Similar categories in Monica Wood's How to Read a Book book and Roxana Robinson's Leaving

  • romance
  • adult fiction
  • literary fiction
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • novels
  • audiobook
"Perhaps it's an oddity of human nature to judge women more harshly, or maybe we expect so little of men their transgressions don't register the same."

-Monica Wood, How to Read a Book

Cover of Bear by Julia  Phillips

16. Bear

By: Julia Phillips

3.38

Format: 304 pages, Hardcover

A mesmerising novel of two sisters on a Pacific Northwest island whose lives are upended by an unex… read more

Similar categories in Julia Phillips's Bear book and Roxana Robinson's Leaving

  • adult fiction
  • literary fiction
  • family
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • audiobook
"There'd been only three hundred students in the whole school, which made it a tiny, gossipy hellhole, a bucket of crabs snapping at each other and falling over themselves."

-Julia Phillips, Bear

"What was Sam afraid of? Withering away here. Dreaming of chances she'd never be able to take, and shriveling up from that denial, getting poorer and put under more pressure and pushed farther from th…"

-Julia Phillips, Bear

Cover of Same As It Ever Was by Claire Lombardo

17. Same As It Ever Was

By: Claire Lombardo

4.00

Format: 498 pages, Hardcover

Julia Ames, after a youth marked by upheaval and emotional turbulence, has found herself on the pla… read more

Similar categories in Claire Lombardo's Same As It Ever Was book and Roxana Robinson's Leaving

  • adult fiction
  • literary fiction
  • marriage
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • family
  • novels
  • audiobook
"Parenthood was a persistent cruelty, a constant, simultaneous desire to be together and apart."

-Claire Lombardo, Same As It Ever Was

Cover of Days of Wonder by Caroline Leavitt

18. Days of Wonder

By: Caroline Leavitt

3.74

Format: 320 pages, Hardcover

New York Times bestselling author Caroline Leavitt returns with a tantalizing, courageous story abo… read more

Similar categories in Caroline Leavitt's Days of Wonder book and Roxana Robinson's Leaving

  • literary fiction
  • family
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • audiobook
Cover of Long Island Compromise by Taffy Brodesser-Akner

19. Long Island Compromise

By: Taffy Brodesser-Akner

3.88

Format: 464 pages, Hardcover

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • An exhilarating novel about one American family, the dark moment that shatter… read more

Similar categories in Taffy Brodesser-Akner's Long Island Compromise book and Roxana Robinson's Leaving

  • adult fiction
  • literary fiction
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • novels
  • audiobook
Cover of The God of the Woods by Liz    Moore

20. The God of the Woods

By: Liz Moore

4.27

Format: 490 pages, Kindle Edition

When a teenager vanishes from her Adirondack summer camp, two worlds collide Early morning, Augu… read more

Similar categories in Liz Moore's The God of the Woods book and Roxana Robinson's Leaving

  • literary fiction
  • fiction
  • audiobook
Cover of How the Light Gets In by Joyce Maynard

21. How the Light Gets In

By: Joyce Maynard

4.27

Format: 432 pages, Hardcover

From New York Times bestselling author Joyce Maynard comes the eagerly anticipated follow-up to her… read more

Similar categories in Joyce Maynard's How the Light Gets In book and Roxana Robinson's Leaving

  • literary fiction
  • family
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • audiobook

21 Top fiction books like Leaving by Roxana Robinson

Transform Your Habits

After Annie

Anna Quindlen

4.03

Transform Your Habits

James

Percival Everett

4.54

Transform Your Habits

Leaving

Roxana Robinson

3.87

Transform Your Habits

Long Island (Eilis Lacey, #2)

Colm Tóibín

3.82

View all the books

21 Top fiction books like Bear by Julia Phillips

Transform Your Habits

James

Percival Everett

4.54

Transform Your Habits

Margo's Got Money Troubles

Rufi Thorpe

3.97

Transform Your Habits

Long Island (Eilis Lacey, #2)

Colm Tóibín

3.82

Transform Your Habits

Real Americans

Rachel Khong

4.04

View all the books

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