Upon her arrival in America, Peilan becomes Polly. Ko poignantly captures the dual identities inherent in both the immigrant and adoptee experiences. She tells of her hardscrabble, rural childhood in a China emerging into capitalism, her impregnation by a man she does not wish to marry, her decision to flee to America, and the perils and sacrifices she must endure as an undocumented worker. The chapters toggle back and forth between Daniel’s story and Polly’s, which is the more compelling narrative. How did she get there? What happened in the decade since Deming last saw her? Married to a successful businessman, she is a top executive at an English-language school, with a glamorous life of travel, sumptuous banquets, and abundant material comfort. Meanwhile, 10 years after disappearing from Deming’s life, Polly resides in Fuzhou, China.
Unmoored, he moves to New York City to break into the music business, but his self-loathing keeps on getting in the way. In college, he develops a nasty online-gambling habit that causes him to flunk out of school, lose a good friend, and relinquish what little self-confidence he had. Though he lives in a crowded apartment - five people crammed into a one-bedroom in the Bronx - and the adults in his life sometimes leave him home without adult supervision while working long shifts at physically taxing low-wage jobs, he is a carefree fifth-grader who has the complete love and support of his Chinese mother, Polly.īut one day, Polly does not return from work and, within a year, Deming has become Daniel Wilkerson, the adopted son of Peter and Kay, white professors at a liberal arts college in Upstate New York.Īlternating between the point of view of Peilan/Polly and Deming/Daniel, Lisa Ko’s debut novel and winner of the PEN/Bellwether Prize, The Leavers, tells the story of an undocumented immigrant and her American-born son, whose lives are upended by the vagaries of America’s cruel immigration policies.Īfter Polly’s disappearance, her roommates try to look after Deming, but with no money and no word from his mother, they eventually give him over to the state, which quickly finds him a “forever home.”Īs one of the very few minorities in his new hometown, Daniel must deal with issues of abandonment, alienation, and subtle racism.
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