Audio only
Length11h 19m
About this audiobook
From the author of Summer Hours at the Robbers Library, a tenderhearted story of two very different women grappling with the messy emotional legacies passed down by their parents—for fans of Dani Shapiro, Ann Napolitano, and Jodi Picoult.
It’s the perennial question: are we a product of how we were raised, or is our identity hardwired by our genetic inheritance? When her adoptive mother dies in a freak accident, high school senior Melody Marcus doubles down on her refusal to learn anything about her birth parents. In this age of 23&me, though, that may not be possible, and the secrets hidden in her DNA threaten to upend everything she knows about herself and her family.
For Candace Milton, a successful woman in her forties, the collateral damage from her parents’ tortured marriage has led to a life of intentional unattachment. She is happy—enough. But a chance encounter with a friend of Melody’s father will challenge this assumption and force her to reimagine who she is and who she might become.
Big-hearted, evocative, and achingly relatable, What We Leave Behind grapples with destiny, belonging, and love, and makes us question our own idea of family: the kind we’re born into and the kind we create.
Audiobook details
Rating★★★ 3.3 (310)
Includes Goodreads
GenreGeneral Fiction
Length11 hrs 19 mins
Narrated byAlexa Elmy, Allyson Ryan
FormatAudiobook
Publish dateJun 24, 2025
LanguageEnglish
More from Sue Halpern
WhistlerAnn Patchett10h 45m4.6 (4.6K)$29 · $0.00
Demon CopperheadBarbara Kingsolver21h 3m4.5 (949.4K)$46 · $0.00
To Kill a MockingbirdHarper Lee12h 18m4.5 (7.4M)$29 · $0.00
Remarkably Bright CreaturesShelby Van Pelt11h 17m4.4 (1.7M)$29 · $0.00
Black History CollectionFrederick Douglass, Harriet Ann Jacobs, Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. Du Bois27h 9m4.6 (2.6K)$18 · $0.00
The Old Man and the Sea (Annotated)Ernest Hemingway4h 27m4.6 (1.4K)$2 · $0.00
White HotIlona Andrews13h 18m4.5 (136.9K)$5 · $0.00
The Ghost by the Billabong (The Matilda Saga, #5)Jackie French14h 58m4.6 (773)$33 · $0.00
Cast in BloodMichelle Sagara16h 35m4.6 (607)$33 · $0.00
The Captain Blood Trilogy (Annotated)Rafael Sabatini29h 20m4.6 (1K)$3 · $0.00
Ship of the Line (Annotated)Cecil Louis Troughton Smith11h 13m4.6 (1K)$2 · $0.00
The George Orwell CollectionGeorge Orwell24h 46m4.5 (14.4K)$12 · $0.00
Time RegainedMarcel Proust15h 38m4.5 (9.2K)$2 · $0.00
Driving ForceElle James4h 58m4.6 (407)$20 · $0.00
When God Calls the HeartBrian Bird, Michelle Cox3h 24m4.6 (439)$10 · $0.00
Five Little IndiansMichelle Good10h 34m4.5 (64.5K)$29 · $0.00
Lolth's WarriorR. A. Salvatore13h 20m4.6 (2.4K)$33 · $0.00
The Things We Cannot SayKelly Rimmer13h 48m4.5 (359.1K)$33 · $0.00
The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du BoisHonoree Fanonne Jeffers29h 49m4.5 (58K)$8 · $0.00
Going PostalTerry Pratchett11h 23m4.5 (189.9K)$29 · $0.00
You may also like
This Has Been Absolutely LovelyJessica Dettmann10h 12m4.1 (4K)$29 · $0.00
The Family InheritanceTricia Stringer12h 14m4.3 (2.6K)$29 · $0.00
Lady SunshineAmy Mason Doan9h 52m4.0 (7K)$29 · $0.00
The Bookshop of YesterdaysAmy Meyerson11h 40m3.9 (43.9K)$29 · $0.00
The Art of Crash LandingMelissa DeCarlo10h 57m3.8 (6.4K)$29 · $0.00
Bright LinesTanwi Nandini Islam12h 25m3.8 (3.1K)$20
The Farewell TourStephanie Clifford12h 11m3.8 (3.3K)$29 · $0.00
Lovely, Dark, DeepJoyce Carol Oates16h 12m3.7 (2.5K)$33 · $0.00
The Perfume CollectorKathleen Tessaro12h 7m4.1 (52.1K)$29 · $0.00
Don't You EverMary Carter Bishop7h 11m4.0 (492)$24 · $0.00
The Keeper of StoriesSally Page10h 17m4.1 (115.2K)$25
The Messy Lives of Book PeoplePhaedra Patrick9h 51m3.8 (33.2K)$29 · $0.00
The Moon, the Stars, and Madame BurovaRuth Hogan7h 55m4.1 (9K)$26 · $0.00
Love And Other BattlesTess Woods10h 9m4.2 (966)$29 · $0.00
The Gallery of Vanished HusbandsNatasha Solomons12h 1m3.7 (3.1K)$23 · $0.00
Take This ManBrando Skyhorse8h 49m3.9 (2.2K)$20 · $0.00
The Act of DisappearingNathan Gower12h 23m4.4 (3.4K)$8 · $0.00
The Sea GardenMarcia Willett9h 56m3.9 (1.4K)$23 · $0.00
The Last RomanticsTara Conklin12h 15m3.9 (60.8K)$29 · $0.00
Hope and GloryJendella Benson11h 4m3.8 (2K)$29 · $0.00