Leave the World Behind

Finalist for the 2020 National Book Award (Fiction)

A recommended book from:

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The Week

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

From the best-selling 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?