Left

Therese Wolley is a mother who has made a promise. She works as a secretary, shops for groceries on Saturdays, and takes care of her two girls. She doesn’t dwell on the fact that her girls are fatherless, mostly because her own father abandoned her before she was born and she has done just fine without him.

Even though her older daughter regularly wakes with nightmares and her younger one whispers letters under her breath, she doesn’t shift from her resolve that everything will be fine. She promises . . . and they believe.

Until the morning an obituary in the newspaper changes everything. Therese immediately knows what she has to do. She cannot delay what she has planned, and she cannot find the words to explain her heartbreaking decision to her daughters. She considers her responsibilities, her girls, and her promise. Then she does the only thing that any real mother would do. She goes on the run with one daughter . . . and abandons the other.

Left is told from the perspectives of Franny, the autistic sister who is left behind; Matilda, the troubled older sister who vows to go back and save her; and Therese, a mother on the run.

Tamar Ossowski is married and has three children, one of whom was born with special needs and could spell before he learned to speak. She wrote the novel Left to explore the possibility that you can only become the person you are supposed to be once you truly embrace the person you already are. Ossowski resides in Needham, Massachusetts.

“A haunting, sometimes harrowing portrait of the ways that love can go wrong—and how we can right it. . . . Trust me, you’ve never read anything like this—like a shadow, it will stick with you.”
— Caroline Leavitt, author of the New York Times bestseller Pictures of You

"The vivid voices, deft plotting and, most of all, utterly original characters Tamar Ossowski has created in Left make it an unforgettable read. This is a book of unusual, even magical, compassion and heart."
— Holly LeCraw, author of The Swimming Pool

“Left is a delight. The story is told with elegance and warmth. Nothing is predictable, and yet in the end, it all makes perfect sense. But it is Ossowski's main characters, Franny and Matilda, that caught me with their fascinating, believable voices, and their endearing, very human flaws. Scrumptious, from beginning to end!"
— Susan Senator, author of Dirt and Making Peace with Autism

“A brave and breathtaking new voice tells of love, loss, and the ties that connect us. Unforgettable characters and a story that unfolds tantalizingly make Tamar Ossowski's debut novel hard to put down and impossible to forget.”
— Toby Devens, author of Happy Any Day Now

“A poignant, often breathtaking story of forgiveness, loss, secrets, and the power of friendship. In her debut novel, Ossowski weaves family secrets and internal struggles that will touch the hearts and memories of anyone who reads this tender yet relentlessly real story.”
— Suzanne Palmieri, author of The Witch of Italy and I’ll Be Seeing You