What We Left Behind

From the critically acclaimed author of Lies We Tell Ourselves comes an emotional, empowering story of what happens when love isn't enough to conquer all.

Toni and Gretchen are the couple everyone envied in high school. They've been together forever. They never fight. They're deeply, hopelessly in love. When they separate for their first year at college — Toni to Harvard and Gretchen to NYU — they're sure they'll be fine. Where other long-distance relationships have fallen apart, their relationship will surely thrive.

The reality of being apart, however, is a lot different than they expected. As Toni, who identifies as genderqueer, falls in with a group of transgender upperclassmen and immediately finds a sense of belonging that has always been missing, Gretchen struggles to remember who she is outside their relationship.

While Toni worries that Gretchen, who is not trans, just won't understand what is going on, Gretchen begins to wonder where she fits in Toni's life. As distance and Toni's shifting gender identity begin to wear on their relationship, the couple must decide — have they grown apart for good, or is love enough to keep them together?

"An important read about strength, self and discovery."  —Tess Sharpe, author of Far From You

 “With vividly drawn characters and killer prose, this is Robin Talley's writing at its best. I couldn't put it down.” —Miranda Kenneally, bestselling author of Catching Jordan

 "An honest and searing love story, impressively complex and nuanced in its examination of the evolution of a long-distance relationship. Important. Brave. Necessary." —I.W. Gregorio, author of None of the Above