Leave The World Behind
By Rumaan Alam
★★★★★★★★☆☆ 8/10
241 pages
What’s it about?
Clay and Amanda drive away from Brooklyn with their two teenage children looking forward to a summer vacation on Long Island. They have rented a nice house with a pool out in the countryside and envision barbecues and day trips to the beach. On their second evening there is a knock at the door and their vacation changes. New York City is experiencing a blackout and the homeowners have returned to the country. But is it safe?
What did it make me think about?
I could not help but to think of the beginning of the pandemic when I read this book. Are we ever really prepared for our world to change?
Should I read it?
I enjoyed this book and would recommend it. The story was suspenseful, but in a different way than I expected. Mr. Alam's observations on race, class, and even parenting are thoughtful, "Her distrust was not of her parents but of the world that they had made, and maybe she was right."
A passage I marked
They had asked themselves questions when they decided to have children- do we have the money, do we have the space, do we have what it takes- but they didn't ask what the world would be when their children grew.
