The Leaf Queen
2021 TAZ Fiction Award Winner
Travel from struggle to strength in this work of contemporary fiction
“The prose is crisp, realistic, and beautiful when it needs to be…Arguably—and for this Roberts also deserves credit—the most interesting character is the one considered the antagonist. The male character who is afraid of commitment might be an old cliché, but Roberts nails it and is not afraid to explore the logic of selfishness and entitlement. The Leaf Queen will satisfy any reader who enjoys very human-centric stories of struggle and growth and any reader who likes well-written thought. Life is a generally difficult experience to capture, but Roberts does it beautifully, and the book is definitely worth a read.” Hallie Koontz, Windy City Reviews (The Chicago Writers Association)
Graduate student, Dina Benet, is tired of being the victim of her own bad decisions. Unlike her sister, Celia, whose confidence and careful choices land her in a loving relationship, Dina chases her dream of becoming a writer by studying in Ireland. There she makes the age-old mistake of falling for a free-spirited poet. As the relationship explodes following his betrayal, she discovers she’s pregnant. Dina decides her child needs a stable home, something she can’t provide. She courageously gives up her baby to an Irish couple, at a painful cost to herself.
Dina buries her grief, keeping her child a secret from everyone, even her sister, and returns to America to try to put her life back together. Longing to escape her pain, and despite Celia’s objections, Dina falls into an impulsive relationship with Luke, a commitment phobic, single father. When she’s diagnosed with cancer, Dina must shed her insecurities, unearth her inner strength, and decide who she can truly depend on. Once again, this time in a battle for her life, she finds the courage to make difficult choices hoping love, not grief, will win.
The Leaf Queen is a powerful adult coming-of-age story about love, forgiveness, and the difficult choices that can lead to healing.
