Leaving Home

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In her exquisite new novel, acclaimed author Anita Brookner explores the profound journey of growing up and leaving home. At twenty-six, Emma Roberts confronts the painful truth that to achieve true independence, she must leave her comfortable London flat and her reclusive, widowed mother. This transition requires shedding her inherited melancholy and embracing a life filled with friendships, parties, and love affairs, which seem elusive until her college tutors secure her a scholarship to study seventeenth-century garden design in Paris. Once in Paris, Emma befriends the vibrant and confident Françoise Desnoyers, whose boldness contrasts with Emma's tentative nature. During a weekend at Françoise’s stunning country château, L’Ermitage, Emma becomes entwined in Françoise’s complex relationship with her demanding mother, who pressures her to marry a wealthy family friend. This exposure to Françoise’s turbulent life grants Emma a newfound appreciation for her own circumstances. As she begins to date and settle into her new city, Emma faces a pivotal choice: embrace a life of comfortable relationships and familiar routines or pursue the elusive hope of a fulfilling future that should never be abandoned.