Kate's life is far from easy. She earns a lot more than her husband Ned, and works long hours... but her boss seems to be trying to edge her out. She pays for their mortgage, and her mother's too, and school fees for their teenage children Guy and Agness.

Kate also runs the home single-handedly, with little support from Ned. Guy is being bullied at school, and is uncommunicative. Agness is going through an angry hormonal stage, fighting for more freedom... and Kate's mother has a string of constant demands.

Finally - actually in the first chapter - in a surprisingly low-key way, Kate comes to the end of her tether. She gets in a taxi to return to her office... and goes, instead, to the airport.

This novel is told in the present tense, which works well. It's also told from multiple viewpoints, which becomes necessary when Kate takes off. And it makes an interesting read: would Kate ever return to her demanding family? Why has she let them get away with it for so long? How would her family get along without her....?

Unfortunately, Guy's accounts are peppered with bad language, and Ned's, at the beginning, are even worse. I was most unimpressed with his first chapter, which describes in crass and juvenile detail what he does, in about five minutes, to Kate in the bedroom. Still, the main part of the story reads well, and it's quite a page-turner towards the end. However the ending is rather too neat, with some inconsistencies that simply didn't work.

All right as a light read, if you don't object to 18-rated language in places, but nothing special. ( )

Initially i have my doubt whether i would be able to enjoy reading this book after reading the plot but given the good review by other readers, i decided to give it a try and i am so glad i did so. The author have written brilliantly about the book. Given the title of the book and the synopsis, one would automatically think that the selfishness that Kate have in leaving her family behind but reading thru the book, one would understand why Kate did it.

Kate is a strong character in the book, being shouldered the burden of a family who rely on her and with the breakdown rooming over her, she decided to walk out of her family and search again for herself. This scenario i believe happened everywhere and to have that courage, not many will do such as Kate did. I like the way the author written the book; each of the characters; Kate, Ned, Eleanor, Agness and Guy have their say and thoughts in different chapters which provided a two way insight as to what really happened and their feeling towards each others. It is fascinating to see such a different perspective emerged from two different thoughts on the same thing and it tells us the damage miscommunication is if problems is to be leave as it is without being dealt with.

Overall, this book is well written, with good plot and characters. I enjoyed reading this book ;) ( )