Leave the World Behind

 

Summary (from the publisher): A magnetic novel about two families, strangers to each other, who are forced together on a long weekend gone terribly wrong

Amanda and Clay head out to a remote corner of Long Island expecting a vacation: a quiet reprieve from life in New York City, quality time with their teenage son and daughter, and a taste of the good life in the luxurious home they’ve rented for the week. But a late-night knock on the door breaks the spell. Ruth and G. H. are an older black couple—it’s their house, and they’ve arrived in a panic. They bring the news that a sudden blackout has swept the city. But in this rural area—with the TV and internet now down, and no cell phone service—it’s hard to know what to believe.

Should Amanda and Clay trust this couple—and vice versa? What happened back in New York? Is the vacation home, isolated from civilization, a truly safe place for their families? And are they safe from one another? 

Suspenseful and provocative, Rumaan Alam’s third novel is keenly attuned to the complexities of parenthood, race, and class. Leave the World Behind explores how our closest bonds are reshaped—and unexpected new ones are forged—in moments of crisis. 

Review: New Yorkers Amanda and Clay have rented a house in remote Long Island to get away from the rush of city life for a week, along with their teenage children. At first, the well decorated home, pool, and reprieve from ordinary life is an ideal vacation. But then, late at night, they hear a knock at the door. It's an older black couple who claim they are the owners of the house and are requesting to stay. They've left the city in a panic and tell Amanda and Clay that there is a citywide blackout. With no TV, no internet, and no cell phone service, it's impossible to know what to believe or what is going on in the wider world. As they begin to witness strange and unsettling things, their safety is increasingly in question.

This was a suspenseful novel. The ease of casual summer days filled with swimming and eating hamburgers afterwards with wet hair is shattered and replaced by a growing sense of unease that builds steadily as the novel progresses. The omniscient narrator occasionally and very casually lets slip stray details that the characters don't know about the outside world. But for the most part, the characters and the reader are in an isolated bubble of building horror. The dichotomy between the beautiful vacation home and the growing tension felt by the characters is jarring and underscores the feeling of unreality that grips each of the characters. 

I enjoyed this novel but it was left as a cliff hanger with many unanswered questions. In many ways, it felt like it would have functioned better as a short story. There were interesting themes of race, class, family, trust, and parenthood throughout the book but most of those are only presented without being fully explored. At heart, this novel asks what civility will remain if the world starts falling apart? Who will we trust or lean on if it does? 

Stars: 3