Looking Ahead: What We Left Behind by Robin Talley

What We Left Behind by Robin Talley is definitely a book to look out for in the next couple of weeks. The novel will be released on Tuesday, October 27, 2015 by HarlequinTEEN.

I've read Talley's debut novel, Lies We've Tell Ourselves, and I was blown away! It is empowering! Talley writes compelling novels about ongoing, difficult issues. Lies We've Tell Ourselves is centered around two high school girls living in 1959 during the epoch of desegregation. Talley's sophomore book, What We Left Behind, is focused on two college girls during the modern age. I am currently reading What We Left Behind and I am loving it! Check the blog next week for a review of What We Left Behind.

About the Book:

From the critically acclaimed author of Lies We Tell Ourselves comes an emotional, empowering story of what happens when love isn't enough to conquer all.

Toni and Gretchen are the couple everyone envied in high school. They've been together forever. They never fight. They're deeply, hopelessly in love. When they separate for their first year at college—Toni to Harvard and Gretchen to NYU—they're sure they'll be fine. Where other long-distance relationships have fallen apart, their relationship will surely thrive.

The reality of being apart, however, is a lot different than they expected. As Toni, who identifies as genderqueer, falls in with a group of transgender upperclassmen and immediately finds a sense of belonging that has always been missing, Gretchen struggles to remember who she is outside their relationship.

While Toni worries that Gretchen, who is not trans, just won't understand what is going on, Gretchen begins to wonder where she fits in Toni's life. As distance and Toni's shifting gender identity begins to wear on their relationship, the couple must decide—have they grown apart for good, or is love enough to keep them together?

About the Author:

Robin Talley, author of Lies We Tell Ourselves (September 2014) and What We Left Behind (October 2015), grew up in Roanoke, Virginia. A Lambda Literary Fellow, Robin now lives in Washington, D.C., with her wife, plus an antisocial cat and a goofy hound dog. When Robin’s not writing, she’s often planning communication strategies at organizations fighting for equal rights and social justice. You can find her on the web at www.robintalley.com or on Twitter at @robin_talley.