The Leaving

Scarlett is one of the three viewpoint characters and one of the six abducted children. She has no siblings and never knew her father; her grandparents are deceased, and she has no other close relatives. Scarlett has only Tamara, her mother, and her homecoming is marred by Tamara’s obsessive preoccupations with aliens and the paranormal. Almost immediately, Scarlett feels friction with her mother instead of love and acceptance. Scarlett is empathetic, sensitive, intelligent, calm, and self-assured—traits that only increase as she gradually recalls pieces of her identity. Her uncomfortable reunion with Tamara sets up a complex emotional struggle as Scarlett pursues answers to the mystery of who took the six children and why.

True to her ability to understand others, however, Scarlett comes to understand that her mother is not shallow or cruel but instead initially uneasy in her motherhood role, then penitent, and now regretful for the years they missed together. Scarlett’s actions and kindness prompt a more companionable relationship with Tamara by the end of the story. This pattern is mirrored in her relationship with Lucas (she determines she wants no boyfriend) and Kristen (she assuages Kristen’s bitterness toward her through simple friendship). Throughout the novel, Scarlett shows an evolving maturity that contributes to her character arc as she reestablishes relationships and redefines her identity.

Scarlett plays an important role in advancing the plot as her character develops; in discovering her talent for sewing and handmade articles of clothing, she embraces her coat as a symbol of her identity, and her close inspection of it reveals the revelatory map she stitched before being returned. Scarlett is a complex, round, dynamic character whose determination and curiosity help her to connect with her true identity and steer her relationships in directions that benefit all parties involved.

Avery is the younger sister of Max Godard, the sixth abductee and the one who dies of an asthma attack soon after the kidnapping. Avery is a point-of-view character, helpfully filling in factual information from the 11 years the children were missing while providing a look at the inner conflicts of family members of the missing. A confident and impetuous teen, Avery is also deeply emotional, evident in her frustration with her parents for maintaining so much focus on Max over the years to jealousy over Lucas’s attachment to Scarlett (though she, Avery, already has a boyfriend) to guilt for her “normal” accomplishments as a student and participant in activities. Avery demonstrates her skills and strength in interpersonal relationships as she supervises and encourages her parents; she convinces her father to offer reward money which leads to the tipline, and she cares for her mother in the throes of renewed grief when Max is not among those returned.

Avery is crucial in advancing the plot of the story, and her brash, sometimes reckless, nature leads to several important revelations. She finds the copy of The Leaving in the RV with Lucas; later, she refuses to accept that her father unfunded the tip line and goes about searching for clues among all the recordings. She is also determined and persevering; it is she who recognizes that the repeat anonymous caller’s messages sound exactly like the principal in the news footage from the night of The Leaving. Although Avery feels shut out and as though she is on the fringe of the group of abductees’ conflicts, these high-impact plot events boost her confidence. At the end of the novel, she does not allow Detective Chambers to pass over her significant news about the principal in the climactic scene. The events of the story and especially the impact of waiting for a brother who will never come home spur Avery’s coming of age and resolve her character arc; while at first, she is concerned with her peers, her boyfriend, and whether or not to audition for the school musical, Avery comes to view life much more seriously. At the end of the novel, she is determined to live in the present, capturing events to keep as memories for the future.

Adam is one of the six abducted children. He reveals little to others in their abductee group and separates himself from Lucas and Scarlett’s motivated search for answers. Even when Scarlett shares Kristen’s news that she (Scarlett) and Adam had a romantic relationship, Adam is nonchalant and disinterested, wanting to focus on ways he can move on. That said, he attends the visits to the Everglades house and the Anchor Beach house. His presence at the Everglades house is important for demonstrating Lucas’s unexplained animosity toward him, which builds reader interest and the mood of conflict and mystery. Later, the discovery that Scarlett and Adam had a romantic relationship explains Lucas’s bitterness toward him. Adam is a flat, static character overall.

Sarah is one of the six abducted children. Returned as a teenager, she and Adam state to the media that they want privacy and have already helped the authorities enough. Later, though, Scarlett encourages Sarah to draw the two images she recurringly sees in her mind: a house and a girl. Sarah’s drawing of Miranda is a crucial piece of the mystery that helps Scarlett and Lucas determine the motivation for the abduction. Sarah is a flat character with a key dynamic change (agreeing to produce the drawings) that leads to the resolution.

One of the six abducted children, Kristen is initially standoffish toward Scarlett and disinterested in the mysterious circumstances surrounding The Leaving. Her parents, however, encourage her to use hypnosis to recall things about the past, which prompts the memories of Scarlett kissing Adam, her jealousy (she was attracted to Scarlett), and the owl in the woodgrain, marking the hiding place of her journal. Kristen’s journal proves that the house in Anchor Beach is the location where the children were raised. Kristen is a minor character but rounder than Sarah or Adam with a slight arc as she loses her animosity toward Scarlett in favor of friendship.