Book Review: "Leave the World Behind" by Rumaan Alam
“Leave the World Behind” by Rumaan Alam
Synopsis: 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 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 other?
Rating (out of 5): 4.5
Review: I’ve been anticipating this book’s release for months now, after I listened to Rumaan Alam on an episode of “Mom and Dad are Fighting.” As you might know by now, I’m a sucker for a suspenseful and creepy plot, and I was willing to put aside my hatred of everything apocalyptical to enjoy this one, and was not at all disappointed.
The plot setup is killer—Amanda and Clay are confronted in the dark by a couple they don’t know who say that they own this home, and that something terrible and unknown is causing a blackout in the City. The question of who is and is not to be trusted, and who is and is not what they say pervades the novel, and the general sense of unease is delightfully uncomfortable.
As the two couples adjust to each others’ presence, the question of what has caused the blackout looms in all their minds, filling their interactions with anxiety. I will not spoil anything, but as it becomes clearer that this is no simple loss of power, I became even more invested in what would become of all of them. The ending is just as tantalizing and suspenseful as the preceding content, and will certainly not leave you feeling settled.
My criticism is limited to feeling that Amanda and Clay were surprisingly un-woke for a Brooklyn X-ennial couple. Though we all have implicit biases, some of their racist assumptions seemed off-kilter for a group of people who generally strive to be woke to a fault.
TL;DR: A much-buzzed-about apocalyptic literary novel that succeeds in being entirely compelling and more than a little disturbing.
If you liked this, try:
“Afterland” by Lauren Beukes (Bookshop | Kindle)
“The City We Became” by N.K. Jemisin (Bookshop | Kindle) Shannon’s review here
“Ninth House” by Leigh Bardugo (Bookshop | Kindle) (Elizabeth’s review)
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