Book Review: "Leave the World Behind" by Rumaan Alam

This book came highly recommended by a close friend of mine, and with the 2020 election over, I was more willing to lean into the dystopian atmosphere. I'm certainly glad that I did. As a reader, I found the book rewarding on several levels, and as a writer, I feel like Rumaan Alam's sentence structure and level of detail has forever changed my writing. 

The story starts out with Amanda and Clay, successful Brooklyn types, and their children as they head off to the remote reaches of Long Island to, you guessed it, leave the world behind. Those are the words from the rental ad for the house they are staying in. This first part of the story really allows you to get to know the family, and to unwind with them. There are subtleties to this first part of the book that make you take notice, such as the detailed list of chosen groceries. In a story where you know things are meant to go wrong, a list of groceries is like a hint that food supply will later become an issue. In this particular scene, Amanda is shopping for groceries during her vacation. There's no sense of precaution or urgency, which is a lovely way to build tension. 

And then is happens, the thing you knew would: a knock at the door in the middle of the night. This reminded me of the Academy Award winning movie Parasite, where everything seems to be going pretty alright with your main characters and then a knock at the door changes everything. Only in Leave the World Behind something has already changed, and the knock at the door is a part of the unfolding as the home's owner return to their house for safety. G.H. and his wife Ruth are a middle-aged African American couple who must navigate two situations at once: fleeing NYC after a massive blackout and being black in America. G.H. must employ every strategy he knows to gain his and his wife's entry into their home that they've rented to this couple and their sleeping children. 

The racial tension is handled beautifully and feels current and fully realized. There's a necessary discomfort here, especially for white readers, as Amanda reflects on some of her preconceived notions of race. There's also a difference in social classes that makes the dynamic between the four characters even more interesting. G.H and Ruth have showed up at their second home that they rent out when they are staying in their NYC high rise apartment - they're loaded. Which flips preconceived notions on their head and it's no surprise when money becomes the key to gaining entry into their own home. But this is what G.H. expected, he's a man of the markets, a man of patterns and predictions. A man who saw this unknown possibly cataclysmic event coming.

Once Amanda and Clay realize their phones aren't working, and internet and cable are out, they are more willing to listen to what G.H. and Ruth have to say about what they saw in the city.  Which admittedly isn't much, but it's enough to leave them all thoroughly spooked. 

Spoilers Ahead!

And then things start happening. The first event is the mass migration of deer. Hundreds, thousands of them and only the teenage daughter witnesses it. Which seems like a nod to our youth perhaps being more observant than we give them credit for being. 

And then comes the noise. I marvel that Rumaan Alam was able to create an atmosphere of horror and tension with only the description of a sound. It's a sound none of them have ever heard before. It's a sound that shatters glass, bursts ear drums, and makes your teeth fall out. Alam's narrative voice shines in these moments where the reader is taken out of the house and what's happening with these two families, and into the wider world and suggestions as to what the sound is and where it came from. We don't know if this is the truth, but I found myself following these threads as though they were factual glimpses into the wider world and what was happening. 

Then the flamingos. I think this was quite possibly my favorite part of the book. As our main characters fret over the source of the sound, completely cut off from information, a flock of flamingos, blown off their migratory path, start dropping into the pool. It's so surreal and chilling. It's just one of those things that is wrong without knowing exactly what is going on. You just know that Flamingos don't belong in a Long Island swimming pool.

For being on the shorter side for a novel, there is some heavy social commentary about the environment, market systems, politics, race, class and masculinity. I particularly liked the focus on masculinity as it came to Clay and G.H. and how they both feel compelled to manage a situation that is utterly out of their control. They must face their own weaknesses and sense of futility, which traditional gender roles don't prepare men for handling.

I've read some different things about the ending. There are a lot of mixed feelings out there. I definitely think the story could have gone on and I would have lapped it up thankfully. But I also think ending on a slightly unresolved note was fitting. Not just fitting for a story centered around so much uncertainty, but for a story of these times. 

Definitely a quick and engaging read if you can handle the lean into dystopia and uncertainty without triggering you right now. If you're sensitive to these types of themes with COVID-19 still raging, then maybe wait until things are on a more even keel before diving in.