The Leaving of Liverpool
Maureen Lee
Read: March 13, 2016

I am at the end of yet another beautiful journey. This is not a life-changing novel, but it will warm your heart, make you smile, and teach you about true, unconditional love.

The novel is about two sisters, Mollie and Annemarie, whose lives start to change once they separate on the ship that was supposed to take them from Liverpool to New York, into a better future. They both experienced something terrible, and Mollie wants to take her sister somewhere where they will feel safe. Annemarie hasn’t spoken a word since “that night”. Once Mollie stays in Liverpool, and quiet and beautiful Annemarie comes to New York, things start to change for both of them. Annemarie is taken by a stranger into his home, and Mollie, overcome with sadness for having no way to find her sister, tries to build herself a new life in another city. They both come from a small village in Ireland, where their brothers still live.

Even though these two main characters are the ones most mentioned, there are many other characters which you get to love, even though they may not be perfect. Levon Zarian is one of them. When remembering him, my eyes fill with tears because of his true love towards Annemarie. I loved the mention of so many children and their cute behavior, I loved the mention of cats and their care for them, I just enjoyed reading this so much. The only thing I didn’t like was epilogue, because it was spoken about the character I did not like at all.

The book starts in the year 1925 and lasts all the way to the end of the Second World War. People celebrate on the streets because the war ended, but there may be some other reasons for celebration in one family. Even though you feel that the book will end happily, you want to move on and read these beautiful passages. I came across this book by chance, but I recommend it to everyone.