Goodreads asked Pam McGaffin:

Where did you get the idea for your most recent book?

Pam McGaffin The idea for "The Leaving Year" came from a walk along what used to be cannery row in Anacortes, WA. I'd missed the ferry to Guemes Island and had an hour to kill, so I looked at houses. One home, a beautifully restored Victorian, got me thinking about the stories that old house had seen. That led to imagining a fishing family (Anacortes is a fishing town) that experiences a tragedy.

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