Leave the World Behind
A Novel
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Leave the World Behind
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Narrated by:
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Marin Ireland
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Written by:
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Rumaan Alam
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 AudioWhat listeners say about Leave the World Behind
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 2023-12-16
Horrible ending
This book had such a horrible ending that it made the entire book a pointless read.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- angela
- 2020-11-26
More annoying irritating than thrilling
So much time saying nothing, so much time developing unappealing characters, for me it went no where and ended no where
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Matthew
- 2022-09-20
The ending could've been so much more!
First off, the reader was amazing. Typically, I lose engagement without a full cast; however, they crushed it. There was so much suspense, and the ending was just blah after all of that.
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- P.L jones
- 2023-10-23
Left everything hanging
Very disappointed, writer left everything hanging—spent majority of story on character development and forget to actually tell the story
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Spyridion Fotakos
- 2024-01-09
Indigestible
I have never hated a book this much, from frivolous unending descriptions of mundane tasks, to pretentious philosophical takes, to shock value statements, the book had 40 minutes without a thing to say.
This aligned with other reviews made it clear the story was really going nowhere so I gave up.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Rose
- 2023-12-03
One of the best
This novel had me gripped from the beginning and I couldn’t stop listening. Narration was soothing. You won’t regret using the credit. One of the best novels I’ve listened to this year.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 2021-05-20
So, so, so good
Just an absolutely great read. Poignant, timely, important. Beautifully written. I highly recommend this title.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Aubrey
- 2022-01-17
Unlikable characters. Pointless plot.
This read as a college writing exercise. Excessive descriptions of the mundane and unending metaphors. The characters had no redeeming qualities. Zero payoff for the hours of build up. 0 if I had the option.
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Teena Albanese
- 2024-11-02
Nothing here!
So very boring. Only made it half way through. Don’t waste your time. I tried but failed.
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