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Mercer series
Leaving Home
David French's first play is a classic in Canadian drama. The first part of what has come to be known as the Mercer Series, Leaving Home tells the story of a Newfoundland family that has emigrated and lost all sense of its place in the world.
Leaving Home was named one of the "100 Most Influential Canadian Books" by the Literary Review of Canada.
Leaving Home was named one of the "100 Most Influential Canadian Books" by the Literary Review of Canada.
108 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1972
3 people are currently reading
117 people want to read
About the author
David Benson French
14 books1 followerDavid Benson French, OC was a Canadian playwright, most noted for his "Mercer Plays" series.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
January 17, 2022
Simply heartbreaking. The naturalism approach is executed beautifully in that anyone watching can relate and feel for this family. Cried my bloody eyes out.
September 14, 2023
Read it the morning of class. Devoured it (in more ways than one) to get it in, but I did enjoy reading it. Reminds me a bit of what life was like in Newfoundland.
Some of it is of course outdated, and there is a bit of “we hate our wives, we hate our husbands” block to get over if you want to understand the humour- or really, all of the play, but once you do get past it there is a gorgeous story with lovely fleshed out characters.
Having seen Saltwater Moon, hating it, it was interesting to see them in the future- also since it was written before Leaving Home.
It made me very nostalgic and sad. I don’t know why. I’ve also never felt more like an imposter then doing a Newfie accent in front of the class. Newfoundland, or rather St. John’s, is home for me. Or maybe it’s just the bay.
I know these women and men, albeit not at these highs, but regardless I know them still. And- whether I like it or not- they live in a part of me.
It also made me think a lot about my father, my grandfather, and my father’s relation to my grandfather.
mallard ducks.
Some of it is of course outdated, and there is a bit of “we hate our wives, we hate our husbands” block to get over if you want to understand the humour- or really, all of the play, but once you do get past it there is a gorgeous story with lovely fleshed out characters.
Having seen Saltwater Moon, hating it, it was interesting to see them in the future- also since it was written before Leaving Home.
It made me very nostalgic and sad. I don’t know why. I’ve also never felt more like an imposter then doing a Newfie accent in front of the class. Newfoundland, or rather St. John’s, is home for me. Or maybe it’s just the bay.
I know these women and men, albeit not at these highs, but regardless I know them still. And- whether I like it or not- they live in a part of me.
It also made me think a lot about my father, my grandfather, and my father’s relation to my grandfather.
mallard ducks.
March 27, 2025
If you ever feel like you have daddy issues try reading this play and you may feel better about your relationship with your father. Also that ending felt underwhelming to me.
Quotes:
Mary: There's no mistakin' where you've been to, and it's not to church.
Mary: Hold your tongue, boy. Don't you ever run down? I just hope to goodness Ben don't call on you at the wedding to toast the bride and groom. We'll all be old before it's over.
Jacob: Where's all the whiskey to? You didn't t'row it out, did you?
Mary: You t'rowed it down your t'roat, that's where it was t'rowed.
Mary: Oh, hold your tongue for goodness sake. Don't your jaw ever get tired?
Minnie: It was in the wintertime, and as cold as a nun's tit.
Minnie: Is that what you want, you little bitch?
Kathy: Don't call me a bitch, you old slut!
Love it <3
Quotes:
Mary: There's no mistakin' where you've been to, and it's not to church.
Mary: Hold your tongue, boy. Don't you ever run down? I just hope to goodness Ben don't call on you at the wedding to toast the bride and groom. We'll all be old before it's over.
Jacob: Where's all the whiskey to? You didn't t'row it out, did you?
Mary: You t'rowed it down your t'roat, that's where it was t'rowed.
Mary: Oh, hold your tongue for goodness sake. Don't your jaw ever get tired?
Minnie: It was in the wintertime, and as cold as a nun's tit.
Minnie: Is that what you want, you little bitch?
Kathy: Don't call me a bitch, you old slut!
Love it <3
April 28, 2018
The first play in the Mercer trilogy, taking place in their Toronto home as the family is planning a wedding for their youngest child. Their slightly older son is planning on leaving home but is terrified of letting his father know this secret. There's so much in this play that really sets a tone of a family so far from their home in Newfoundland, while trying to keep it close to their heart. The strife between father and son and how a mother works to prevent that divide is heartbreaking, but becomes such an integral part of this beautiful play. This is the weakest of the three plays but sets a tone for those to follow.
February 1, 2024
Mercer series
Leaving Home
David Benson French
Jacob left school with a grade three education. His son Ben has just graduated from Grade 13 and is headed to university on a scholarship. Seventeen year old Billy is on the eve of his marriage to Kathy a Catholic whom he has gotten pregnant because he was too embarrassed to buy protection at the drug store. What elder son and father have in common is an Irish temperament. Billy’s inlaws add to the fray. So, did the couple actually follow through on the wedding and start housekeeping with Ben as their tenant?
Leaving Home
David Benson French
Jacob left school with a grade three education. His son Ben has just graduated from Grade 13 and is headed to university on a scholarship. Seventeen year old Billy is on the eve of his marriage to Kathy a Catholic whom he has gotten pregnant because he was too embarrassed to buy protection at the drug store. What elder son and father have in common is an Irish temperament. Billy’s inlaws add to the fray. So, did the couple actually follow through on the wedding and start housekeeping with Ben as their tenant?
May 9, 2021
I have to say that it is quite interesting reading this after reading Salt-Water Moon. I didn’t care for Jacob much in that play and he was definitely worse here. Not that I think he’s a poorly written character just kind of unbearable but it works well for both plays. I think what I liked about this one over Salt-Water Moon is it’s flow. I felt that the prequel play really drags in the middle, whereas I felt this play keeps a really deliberate pace the entire time.
September 12, 2025
An interesting play that I had the privilege of studying in university. A Newfoundland father struggling with the idea that they have had to move to Toronto and his rough relationship with his son. While reading this as an east coaster I felt I could hear the culmination of many fathers of that era and the missing of what things used to be like. A good play.
July 12, 2019
Well written and I'm sure it would be well executed when done live as his writing style really lends to how people think and speak, even with a Newfie accent in there I could hear how he would have wanted it. Definitely a great Canadian playwright.
February 17, 2021
I liked it but the final moment of the play is a baffling conclusion to the tense conflict that preceded it.
October 16, 2023
Newfies!
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January 2, 2012My review of David French's Leaving Home:
I find it very interesting that I came across two Canadian poets who died in the last year [now 2010]: David French and PK Page. Both of these poets were renowned in areas of literature that I was unfamiliar with, but still I find myself liking and enjoying both their works. I have to admonish that I don't know much about plays and how they're written and what makes them great. Also, keep in mind that I've never watched Leaving Home on stage and therefore haven't experienced the artistic vision French wanted to expose his audience to.
But I do have a nose for what's authentic and effective and I'm taking a shot.
I remember someone comparing this play to The Crucible and since I don't have any more ideas, let's go with that. I like this play a lot more than The Crucible. While Arthur Miller works hard to prove his point in that play, the characters in Leaving Home feel much more personable and real. The set for Leaving Home was very simple and was effective because the characters frequently reminisced to their home in Newfoundland and created a much more vivid picture of Newfoundland for the audience in their descriptions of those places than physically inserting those things on set. I'm not in possession of the script anymore and can't provide you with quotes, but this technique does work and it helps the audience to see that these are real people and not just meat puppets being ordered around the stage.
The absence of these aspects of life and the land that the characters associated with home from the set and the violence that the audience witnesses on set within the characters home works well with the theme of leaving home.
I wouldn't recommend going and buying this script off-the-shelf, but if you like plays, good plays, and you're given an opportunity to see this live, I would check it out. I will if I get the chance.
I don't know a lot about drama, but I have a nose for what's honest and substantive and this is not nothing. It's better than that, I had to read this for school but I'm happy that I did. There are different avenues and methods to experiencing life in the arts and not all of them are fun or as we imagine them to be, but when something good appears in your path, don't ignore it. Go with it and see where it takes you. This play helped me to see that.
I find it very interesting that I came across two Canadian poets who died in the last year [now 2010]: David French and PK Page. Both of these poets were renowned in areas of literature that I was unfamiliar with, but still I find myself liking and enjoying both their works. I have to admonish that I don't know much about plays and how they're written and what makes them great. Also, keep in mind that I've never watched Leaving Home on stage and therefore haven't experienced the artistic vision French wanted to expose his audience to.
But I do have a nose for what's authentic and effective and I'm taking a shot.
I remember someone comparing this play to The Crucible and since I don't have any more ideas, let's go with that. I like this play a lot more than The Crucible. While Arthur Miller works hard to prove his point in that play, the characters in Leaving Home feel much more personable and real. The set for Leaving Home was very simple and was effective because the characters frequently reminisced to their home in Newfoundland and created a much more vivid picture of Newfoundland for the audience in their descriptions of those places than physically inserting those things on set. I'm not in possession of the script anymore and can't provide you with quotes, but this technique does work and it helps the audience to see that these are real people and not just meat puppets being ordered around the stage.
The absence of these aspects of life and the land that the characters associated with home from the set and the violence that the audience witnesses on set within the characters home works well with the theme of leaving home.
I wouldn't recommend going and buying this script off-the-shelf, but if you like plays, good plays, and you're given an opportunity to see this live, I would check it out. I will if I get the chance.
I don't know a lot about drama, but I have a nose for what's honest and substantive and this is not nothing. It's better than that, I had to read this for school but I'm happy that I did. There are different avenues and methods to experiencing life in the arts and not all of them are fun or as we imagine them to be, but when something good appears in your path, don't ignore it. Go with it and see where it takes you. This play helped me to see that.
September 4, 2016
The first of the plays about the Mercer family, transplants from Newfound to Toronto, who are in the midst of planning a shotgun wedding to Kathy, a Protestant, for one son, Bill, who is only 17, and Ben, 19, who is going to university. Jacob, the working class hard drinking patriarch, is angry when he finds that Ben is planning to move in with the newlyweds. Jacob has had a relationship with Kathy’s mother, Minnie, which adds to the stress. Kathy has had a miscarriage and she and Billy are going to have to decide what to do, but it is the conflict between Jacob and Ben that takes precedence.
July 18, 2012
Read for a potential comparison to Anne Hébert's Le temps sauvage for uni.
It was an interesting family dynamic, but oh boy, the ending felt like another harsh kick after you're already down.
It was an interesting family dynamic, but oh boy, the ending felt like another harsh kick after you're already down.
Read
February 19, 2013I recall this being a very good book and play....
June 11, 2015
Wonderfully written play! Purely Canadian and very easy to see why it's such a classic drama.
October 9, 2014
Read this for one of my English courses
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews