Deming Guo/Daniel Wilkinson

Deming Guo—who, after his adoption, becomes Daniel Wilkinson—is the main protagonist of The Leavers. He is the son of Polly, originally Peilan, Guo—an immigrant from Fuzhou, China. He is born in Manhattan Chinatown, where his mother Polly has been working in a garment factory. When Polly is no longer able to care for her months-old son, she sends him back to Fuzhou to live with her father. Deming has warm memories of this time in Fuzhou, boating with his grandfather.

When Deming’s grandfather passes away, Polly brings her son back to New York, where he spends the formative elementary school years living with his mother, Leon, Vivian and Michael. The impact that those years have had on Deming are later obvious in Daniel’s sense of connection to Michael and to Leon, who he visits in Fuzhou. Deming’s years with...