Leave the World Behind

An electrifying and unnerving novel for our times, Leave the World Behind elegantly captures our age of anxiety and shows how the most terrifying situations are never far from reality

SOON TO BE A MAJOR GLOBAL NETFLIX ADAPTATION STARRING DENZEL WASHINGTON AND JULIA ROBERTS

Amanda and Clay head to a remote corner of Long Island expecting a holiday- 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 with a late-night knock on the door, the spell is broken.

Ruth and G. H., an older couple who claim to own the home, have arrived there in a panic. These strangers say that a sudden power outage has swept the city, and - with nowhere else to turn - they have come to the country in search of shelter.

But with the TV and internet down, and no phone service, the facts are unknowable. Should Amanda and Clay trust this couple - and vice versa? What has happened back in New York? Is the holiday home, isolated from civilisation, a truly safe place for their families? And are they safe from one another?

A magnetic novel about two families, strangers to each other, who are forced together on a long weekend gone terribly wrong

'Easily the best thing I have read all year' — Kiley Reid, author of SUCH A FUN AGE

'Intense, incisive, I loved this and have still not quite shaken off the unease' — David Nicholls

***THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER***
FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD 2020

ISBN: 9781526633101 | Published: 2 July 2021 (first published 2020) | Paperback | 256 pages