Thoughts of Leaving: A memoir that swirls from beneath the San Francisco tides to her awaiting passion in the streets of Brazil

Tess took flight, pursuing her promise to marry a Brazilian exchange student.

As she traveled across the continents, she grappled with love and darkness.

She looked up at the full moon, gazed at the twinkling stars, and listened, immersing herself in the voices that surrounded her.

If only she had tried harder to say the words. Her silence became a distant echo.

The softness of his lips was replaced by the black and white images of her past.

She tried to look beyond the puffy clouds in the sky, but found herself staring at the memory of Andy Warhol's pop art, a simple can of Campbell's tomato soup.

Tess clings to optimism and inner strength, which guides her to an insatiable desire to fly.

The seagulls above, the sparkle of the San Francisco Bay, and the surrounding hills of Oakland, California, set the stage for Tess Hamilton's journey.

And Thoughts of Leaving become her only friend.This book is based on a true story and will take the reader through a time and place where youth and love are sought and not always found as expected.