Leave the World Behind

Leave the World Behind begins with a New York City family of four driving east, to a rental house in the Hamptons. Amanda and Clay are excited for a week away from it all with their two kids. There’s a sense of unease that lingers in the background — and comes to the fore when in the middle of the night, an elderly Black couple, G.H. and Ruth, knocks on their door, telling them they are the homeowners. They tell Amanda & Clay that New York City is in a blackout, and they felt safer coming out to their house versus their Upper East Side apartment. Soon, they realize the blackout is not just a blackout, but indicative of something much more terrible.

This line from Kirkus Reviews is perhaps my favorite description of the book: “Alam’s story unfolds like a dystopian fever dream cloaked in the trappings of a dream vacation.” As I read, I got increasingly more terrified, and more in awe of Rumaan Alam’s ability to capture nuances of messy families, racial tensions, and emergency situations. Most dystopian/apocalyptic novels don’t capture those scary first few days, instead relying on flashbacks, but what would happen in the first days of the end of the world? How would you react? What if you weren’t with your family or loved ones? What if you were with strangers? I don’t have the answers, but I won’t stop thinking about Leave the World Behind for a long time.

Rating: ★★★★★