Customer Reviews

Leaving: A Novel

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"Leaving" is absolutely remarkable. I thought I would be the worst possible audience for such a book -- as an individualist, I think the current climate of "special pleading" for various races and ethnicities and religions and genders and orientations and ages and handicaps has created a pernicious cult of victimization that poses an enormous threat to this country and to every individual in it, and some of the characters in Richard Dry's book are violent members of the underclass, people whose skin we are invited to get inside and whose viewpoint we are asked to share or at least understand -- and yet the book knocked me out. Through a combination of personal experience, research, and an enormously powerful imagination, Dry has made a world that in real life I would go out of my way to avoid, real and immediate and important.

And none of this conveys the beauty of a novel I never thought I'd like, but one that wound up haunting me.

-- Paul Guay
Co-screenwriter of "The Little Rascals," "Liar, Liar" and "Heartbreakers"

Leaving is Richard Dry's debut novel and it is excellent!! It is the story of Ruby Washington's family - three generations and their actions and reactions to survive against all odds. In 1959, Ruby, poor and pregnant, hastily leaves small town Norma, South Carolina for Oakland, California with her younger half brother (Easton) in tow. She moves in with her father and his lover and finds work as a seamstress. Dry then blends in the political and social happenings of the time and we watch how Ruby struggles to hold her family together despite racism, incest, domestic violence, and the influx of drugs in the community.

Weighing in at 450 pages, Dry gives the reader a lot to consider. The interrelationships of the characters are complex and engaging. Dry provides up close and personal perspectives of the movement through the eyes of a college age Easton when he ventures south to participate in a Civil Rights march in Selma, Alabama. Another supporting character embodies the Black Panther philosophies; Lida (Ruby's daughter) resorts to prostitution to support a drug habit; Love (Ruby's grandson) grows up with heroin-addicted parents and experiences the juvenile justice system. Every character has a unique voice/view and a heartbreaking story, which Dry tells with compelling realism. Interweaved within the story are historical (factual) citations and references that shaped race relations and influenced the Black experience in America.

Dry writes with conviction and purpose as evidenced in the title reference and the theme of "leaving" is echoed in the character's actions, a few examples are: Ruby's exodus from South Carolina is necessary to avoid racial violence; whereas Love escapes to the same South Carolina to avoid the ills of urban gang life. Lida's choice to leave Ruby's home is a result of her fleeing pain and unresolved issues; Marcus (Lida's husband) leaves for three years to launch a musical career, etc.

This book was simply a good read -- the characters and plot were well developed; pacing was sound and the story moved quickly (which made the 450 pages easier to digest).

Some fifty years from now, Richard Dry's brilliant debut novel "Leaving" will be given the same homage Ralph Ellison's "Invisible Man" now receives. "Leaving" is a somber, chilling and compelling contemplation on the nature of African-American life since World War II. The novel blends gut-wrenching dislocation, ironic perception and terrifying alienation in its provocative commentary on racism's lingering impact. Dry, through brilliant characterization and taut narrative drive, extends his vision to the entire scope of the African-American post-war experience, from disintegration and despair to reclamation and redemption. The result is a spellbinding saga of three generations of Blacks, each of which is scarred by the impact of racial oppression, each of which develops its own capacity to comprehend and confront life's hurtful circumstances.

Deftly interweaving three cross-cutting narratives, "Leaving" traces the evolution of Ruby Washington's family, from its rural South Carolina roots to the coarse, drug and violence-saturated streets of Oakland California. It is a novel which treats not only the arc of personal odysseys, but how the individual lives of the Washington family fit in the historical stream of African-American history. Indeed, an anonymous prisoner, whose words reverberate consistently throughout the novel, underscores this historical consciousness when he insists that African-Americans "dive into your history." He warns that "without the knowledge of your past, you're likely to" repeat the same mistakes past generations made in trying to understand racism. Without knowledge, without a sense of self, the nameless prisoner scolds, African-Americans will "pace back and forth" on the raft of history, "like a beast in this jail-cage."

"Leaving," however, is much more that a book that elevates consciousness. It is a novel that elicits our most profound emotional alliances with its characters, even when the men, women and children portrayed repel and repulse us with their shortcomings. Even in its depiction of depravity, the novel gains transcendence. Despite its overwhelming portrait of urban material and spiritual poverty, "Leaving" encourages hope. The repository of that hope, curiously enough, is the oldest member of the Washington family, Ruby Washington, who suffers the memory of witnessing the murder of her beloved intended Ronald after the latter has challenged the reigning white supremists in his small South Carolina community. Ruby is a living martyr, sacrificing her life to the care of her conflicted half-brother Love Easton, her drug-riddled daughter Lida and her two tormented, blighted grandchildren, Ronald Love and Paul "Li'l Pit" LeRoy.

Dry offers no pat answers to racism. His characters carry horrific scars but often choose paths that can only carry them to greater degradation and self-effacement. "Leaving" provides little solace to those who believe that we are winning the battle against drugs in African-American communities. Given the prevalence of anti-social influences in Oakland's African-American community as depicted by Dry, readers may well conclude that our nation has fractured into disparate racial nations. Yet, despite the preponderance of accusatory evidence, "Leaving" never wavers in its belief that human struggle results in victories: hard-earned, seemingly insignificant and even incidental. But victories nonetheless.

(...)

Richard Dry's debut novel, Leaving takes us three generations deep touching history harkening back to the era of civil rights and wrenching wrongs. This is about a family in turmoil and their quest to make in against harrowing odds, and their story being told in a poignant and persuasive way by this author. The matriach and central figure of this tale is Ruby Washington, who struggles to keep her family intact against insurmountable odds battling the signs of the times. The year is 1959, the era of sharechopping just a stone's throw from yesteryear, but close enough for Ruby to remember how hard it was for her parents. Unable to cope with the vile and villanous world she lives in, she decides to leave her native South Carolina for foreign territory, taking with her Easton, her thirteen-year old half brother. To complicate the issue, she's pregnant, newly widowed, and weary from the violence that forced her to flee in the first place.

What amazes me about this story, and others like it is how the legacy of the Black female continue to be the anchor of strength, and how writers uphold this truth. In this case, Mr. Dry give creedance to the importance of strong familial ties and what it takes to persevere. But perseverance in the face of fate usually renders one to uncontrolable circumstances, and Ruby succumbs to it during the turbulance of 1960s Oakland. Civil rights activism, the Black Panther Party, and drugs only add fuel to fires raging too prevalently to eradicate without reasonable cause. Through the years Ruby adheres to the 'rob Peter, pay Paul syndrome to make ends meet amid angst hoping for better days. Subsequently, Ruby gives birth to daughter Lida who, as time progresses, has a family of her own often repeating the problems she experienced with her mother. To compound the aforementioned, Lida struggles with a drug problem and the burden of a hurtful family secret. It doesn't get any better as Lida's sons must strive to make ways for themselves, criss-crossing the nation searching for acceptance and legitimacy.

The tone and tenor for this family throughout this saga gives the reader reason not to abandon it, despite the hefty 452 pages. As such, the book starts out slow and a little uneven, but gains balance in the later chapters. Books of this magnitude where there's vestiges of historic harangue amid what it took to keep families intact tend to make for good storylines as long as the characters support a moving plot. Richard Dry, in my opinion delivers. He gives us not nly a good story, but a sense of realism that forces you to wonder could things have been different otherwise. When you think along those lines you know that you've read a good book. Read this one for yourself and draw your own conclusions!

I gravitated towards this book initially because of the many good things I had heard about it. This book sucked me in immediately and it's thick size did not matter, until the end when I wished it would continue.
Richard Dry captures the "black experience" in America better than anyone ever has in the past. It is not a "preachy", "blame the white man" novel, but a FACTUAL, ACTUAL account of the travesties and inhumane conditions blacks have and continue to endure in the "land of the free".
At times I was angered and saddened over particular events that I had never heard of. But as an AA woman I gathered the strength inherited from my people to face the truth.
Something has sparked in me after completing this book, a renewed spirit maybe? An awakening?
"Leaving" should become required reading for all students in high school. It is too important to ignore.
EXCELLENT WORK MR. RICHARD DRY! Anyone who reads this book owes it to the public to spread the word. PICK THIS ONE UP! It is a classic!

If fiction has any place in todays world, it is to help us participate emotionally in the lives of those whose stories we would otherwise know only from the outside. Leaving by Richard Dry presents its readers with a great giftthe possibility of getting under the skin of people whose presence is everywhere, but whose lives are often opaque, especially in the mutually agreed upon segregation that is practiced in cities like Oakland.
Dry tells the story of three generations of Oaklands black community beginning with their flight from South Carolina and ending on Cranston street near 7th in West Oakland. While there is no actual Cranston Street in Oakland, this is the neighborhood that came to national attention during the earthquake of 1989 when the Cypress Freeway collapsed. Race-based resentment of that freeway was well-publicized, and the rebuilt Cypress structure now circles its border. Residents renamed the old roadway the Mandela Parkway. (Oakland has an outstanding number of streets named for revolutionary leaders, including Gerry Adams.)
Whats different about Drys telling of Ruby Washingtons story is his ability to unfold his characters and their times without scolding. His narrative tone is compassionate without being apologetic, and the result is a novel that grips the readers imagination and holds it there. Surely the description of the brothers return to the South by bus is some of the best writing about teens and preteens anywhere.
The chronology of the story is broken, and events from 1960 to 1993 are told in a sequence that places them in a nearly random order that the reader follows best by using the family tree provided at the beginning of the book. Who is this? and whats happening now? are questions one asks initially. Finally, the effect is not chaos, but the recreation of lives lived in the presence of forces beyond anyones control. Characters are blindsided, let down, thwarted until they learn to bounce, like Love and his brother Lil Pit. Or they suddenly die. Or they seat themselves deeply in spiritual values, like Ruby, and try to roll with the punches.
The outlines of many of these stories are well-known, but Drys version avoids the subtly glamorized and false style of the movies, and the patently didactic style of much other writing, with its subtext of blame and finger-pointing. I resisted reading this book, and in the end, I couldnt put it down.

Norma, South Carolina was a danagerous place for black people to live in 1959. Due to this danger Ruby Washington and her younger brother Love Easton Childers head west to Oakland, California in search of a better life. Ruby is pregnant, scared and single and she can only pray that things will be better for her family in California.

Ruby is an accomplished seamstress and hopes to support her family by selling her creations to department stores. Love is very intelligent and plans to attend college. They both feel that in California they will have far more opportunities than they would have in the south. Unfortunately, they find out that racism is everywhere.

Leaving, a novel by Richard Dry is a saga of Ruby's family that is told over the span of 40 years and 3 generations. This is a story detailing the heartbreak and tragedies that befall the Washington family. The story also details how there are always consequences for the actions of the characters.

Richard Dry is a great storyteller and had me turning the pages until the end of the book. Leaving has all the elements of a great drama: drug abuse, sexual abuse, sex and plenty of action. This is the type of novel that I would love to see turned into a movie. I enjoyed this book except for a few spots where the story dragged a little.

Reviewed by Simone A. Hawks

LEAVING is a compelling novel about the struggles and challenges of three generations of an African American family. In reading this book, one takes a journey into the lives of the characters. The author develops the characters with a depth and poignancy and compassion that make this a compelling novel. The chronological sequence gracefully moves back and forth giving the reader a powerful societal and generational felt sense of both the history and lives of African Americans in our country. I look forward to reading more of this author's work!

I was very impressed by this novel for many reasons. For one there is a stark realism to the stories interwoven into one story about the struggles of a dysfunctional family starting with the plight of it's matriarch Ruby Washington feeling the violent racism of Norma, South Carolina with her half brother Easton "Love" Childers to Oakland, California. And this is just the beginning. Each character seems to go through a kind of odyessey to arrive at either a dead end (such as in Easton and Lida's case) or with a new beginning. I think this book is mostly about change and how a family struggles with the harsh world given their severe disadvantages. There is a surprise ending that reminded me that people can change no matter what direction they are going into. The "two brothers" on the bus trip was absolutely esstential to the novel as it drew to a close. I don't want to give away too much. This was an excellent novel! I warn you in advance. You'll probably cry a little at the ending!

This book changed my life. Dry captures a stark reality many of us comfortably avoid. Thoughtful, compelling and wrenchingly honest, this book has become my preferred gift for my most literate and socially responsible friends - as well as those who just like a good story.