Leave the World Behind Audiobook By Rumaan Alam cover art

Leave the World Behind

A Novel

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Leave the World Behind

By: Rumaan Alam
Narrated by: Marin Ireland
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About this listen

A Read with Jenna Today Show Book Club Pick!

Finalist for the 2020 National Book Award (Fiction)

A Best Book of the Year From: The Washington Post * Time * NPR * Elle * Esquire * Kirkus * Library Journal * The Chicago Public Library * The New York Public Library * BookPage * The Globe and Mail * EW.com * The LA Times * USA Today * InStyle * The New Yorker * AARP * Publisher's Lunch * LitHub * Book Marks * Electric Literature * Brooklyn Based * The Boston Globe

A magnetic novel about two families, strangers to each other, who are forced together on a long weekend gone terribly wrong.

From the bestselling author of Rich and Pretty comes a suspenseful and provocative novel 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.

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?

©2020 Rumaan Alam (P)2020 Harper Audio
Family Life Fiction Literary Fiction Psychological Suspense Women's Fiction New York Exciting Scary
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Editor's Pick

Apocalypse now
I was a bit reluctant to add Leave the World Behind to my library. The premise was eerily familiar—a world seemingly in chaos and the uncertainty and isolation that ensue. But it wasn’t easy to ignore the buzz for Rumaan Alam’s third novel, and when I heard that Denzel Washington and Julia Roberts had optioned it for a Netflix film (hello, The Pelican Brief!) I immediately hit “Add to cart.” Brooklynites Clay and Amanda have rented an Airbnb in the Hamptons for a summer vacation with their two teens. Less than 24 hours into their getaway, there’s a knock at the door. The owners of the house, a well-heeled older Black couple, are seeking refuge from a mysterious power outage that has left New York City in the dark. Cue the herd of deer stampeding through the woods and flock of flamingos splashing in the pool (I’m not kidding), all while the Wi-Fi is down and the TV conveniently stops working. Beloved narrator Marin Ireland is a wonder, seamlessly stepping into the head space of each character. Weaving in the characters’ private thoughts and fears around race, class, and privilege, the brisk chapters tick toward an ominous final act. You might want to listen with the lights on. —Margaret H., Audible Editor