Leave the World Behind
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 black 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 another?
Themes & atmosphere
What you might want to know about Leave the World Behind
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
A white Brooklyn family rents a remote Long Island house for a week. Their second night, the older Black couple who own the house arrive at the door. New York has gone dark. Nobody knows what is happening.
Leave the World Behind was written by Rumaan Alam and published in 2020. It was a finalist for the National Book Award for Fiction.
Yes. Sam Esmail directed a 2023 Netflix film adaptation starring Julia Roberts, Mahershala Ali, Ethan Hawke, and Myha'la Herrold. The film was widely watched and generated significant discussion.
Leave the World Behind is 288 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, Leave the World Behind takes most readers 4 to 6 hours to finish.
Leave the World Behind is a standalone novel by an unknown author, not part of a series.
Leave the World Behind is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.