Leave The World Behind

LEAVE THE WORLD BEHIND

by Rumaan Alam

 

Nominations: Aspen Words Finalist 2021, National Book Finalist 2020

 

Date Read: November 18, 2021

 

Leave The World Behind is more science fiction than plain fiction. Or is it? While I found some of the plot devices difficult to swallow, by the end I found myself feeling like I need to go to the grocery store and check my emergency supplies.

 

The premise is relatively simple. A family from New York heads to a AirB&B for a little R&R. Out of the blue, the owners show up because there’s a black-out in New York and they want to hole up in their own vacation house. This is point number one where I scratched my head. The owners wouldn’t go to their place knowing they have a rental agreement already in place. Not knowing there’s anything else amiss in the world aside from the power outage, wouldn’t they head to a hotel? Why did they assume the renters would let them in?

 

But let them in they, in fact, do. After questioning if they are actually the owners, enough circumstances align that they realize they are the owners. More strange phenomena occur – superhuman loud noises, mass deer migrations, the illness of their son Archie – that all the adults begin to question what is going on. With no TV, cell service or landline service they are unable to learn anything of value.

 

So, they bide their time, having dinner and a soak in the hot-tub. Which brings up point number two: I can’t buy that Clay and Amanda would get into the hot tub naked after sex, while George climbs in in his swim trunks. Who would hot tub naked, knowing the owners, who are essentially strangers, are going to be in there with you? Especially since Ruth, George’s wife, is super fastidious and a little matronly. Not buying it.

 

Archie’s illness becomes so severe (losing teeth, intense vomiting), that Clay and George decide to take him to the hospital. But after talking to George’s neighbor, they abort their mission and return home. 

 

The reason this book will haunt me is because the nature of the threat is never fully defined. Is it war? Alien invasion? Who knows? All we know is that Archie isn’t going to make it, but Rose, the other child, will because of her ingenuity. Overall, a creepy book that will probably give me nightmares.

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