This book received a lot of buzz and appears on several ‘best of 2020’ lists but I just don’t see it. In Leave the World Behind, Amanda & Clay take their two teenage children on a week-long vacation at the end of summer. They rent an AirBNB on Long Island and look forward to quiet days by the pool, away from the noise and hubbub of their Brooklyn home. A palatial home in the middle of nowhere. After a day of relaxation, a couple knocks on their door late at night claiming they are the owners. There is a blackout in NYC so they decided it was safer to come to their Long Island house than risk trying to walk 40 flights to their high-rise condo. The blackout explains Amanda & Clays inability to get a phone signal or satellite reception for the TV – they are completely cut-off from news & information. After hearing sonic boom-like noises and having increasingly odd experiences, the families must decide what to do. So, the story unfolds.
While I like the premise and general arc of the story, I feel like the author tried to do too much. There is a lot of foreshadowing by the narrator. In the first chapter, global warming, consumerism, sexism, racism and reliance on technology were each alluded to – and the chapter is only 6 pages long! Although these issues are discussed by the author throughout the book in odd, obtuse ways, the characters don’t ever discuss them. They are just living in a world created and defined by these issues, and are now feeling the consequences. Also, the flow of the story was a bit disjointed and I found myself having to reread paragraphs.
The unexpected couple causes some realistic fear & uncertainty. I do think Alam writes this part well – the relationship goes from unsettling to interdependence smoothly. An unknown cataclysmic event will create bonds quickly. The idea that the characters have little information about the blackout and whatever is happening in the rest of the world was frustrating to me. The narrator provides descriptions of what is happening but in a very detached manner. I struggled to make direct connections between these global issues and the characters experience.
Clearly the author intended the detachment between what the families know and what is actually going on in the greater world. I can imagine this being a realistic experience. But the book left me wanting to know more and I especially found the ending disappointing. Perhaps readers more comfortable with uncertainty will enjoy the book more than I did.
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