Leslie Rasmussen

ABOUT THE BOOK

A heartbreaking loss. A life-changing secret. Will the truth bring three daughters closer together or tear them apart? Morgan, Charlotte, and Abby Weiss are filled with mixed emotions. After their beloved mother took her own life without leaving a note, the siblings go through the motions of a funeral while grappling with grief and anger at their parents’ actions.

Leaning into their close connection and taking a break from their lives, their men, and their personal issues, they move into their mother’s house in search of answers. As they unearth clues about a mysterious stranger, the Weiss sisters travel to Las Vegas, hoping to find closure. However, they only encounter more questions and confusion as they follow the trail onward to New York… and their mother’s hidden past.

Can Morgan, Charlotte, and Abby survive a revelation that changes everything they hold to be true? When People Leave is a captivating contemporary novel that explores familial relationships, grief, anger, and resolutions.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Leslie A. Rasmussen was born and raised in Los Angeles and graduated from UCLA. She went on to write television comedies for Gerald McRaney, Burt Reynolds, Roseanne Barr, Norm McDonald, Drew Carey, The Wild Thornberrys, and Sweet Valley High. After leaving the business to raise her boys, Leslie obtained a master’s degree in nutrition and ran her own business for ten years. Leslie has been published in the Huffington Post over twenty times and speaks on panels discussing female empowerment. She’s a member of the Writers Guild of America, Women in Film, and the UCLA Alumni Association. Her debut novel, After Happily Ever After, has won over fifteen awards, and her second novel, The Stories We Cannot Tell, has won eleven awards. Leslie’s newest novel, When People Leave, was released in May 2025. She has appeared in numerous media outlets and been interviewed by the likes of NPR and XM Radio.

When Leslie isn’t writing, she loves reading, exercising, and spending time with friends. Leslie lives in Southern California with her husband and two sons.

SUGGESTED INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

1. What inspired you to write When People Leave, a story that begins with such a deeply personal and heartbreaking loss?
2. Your book deals with suicide, grief, and the complexities of family. What were the emotional or creative challenges of writing about those topics with honesty and sensitivity?
3. How did you research this book and its many complexities?
4. The three sisters choose to pause their own lives to search for answers. What does it say about how we as humans process loss and grief?
5. You explore the idea that uncovering a parent’s hidden life can shift a child’s identity as it raises so many questions. What did you want readers to take away about the complexity of their own family secrets?
6. Family relationships, especially between sisters, are at the heart of When People Leave. How do sibling dynamics shift under the weight of grief and unresolved questions?
7. Grief is often portrayed as a straight line, but your story shows it as messy, nonlinear, and often angry. How did you approach writing about grief
8. What conversations do you hope When People Leave sparks, either among book clubs, families, or listeners who may have experienced loss themselves?