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Leave the World Behind
- Narrated by: Marin Ireland
- Length: 7 hrs and 25 mins
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Leave the World Behind
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Publisher's Summary
Bloomsbury presents Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam, read by Marin Ireland.
NOW A MAJOR GLOBAL NETFLIX ADAPTATION STARRING JULIA ROBERTS, KEVIN BACON, ETHAN HAWKE AND MAHERSHALA ALI
*A THE TIMES #1 BESTSELLER*
*THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER*
*A BARACK OBAMA SUMMER READING PICK 2021*
'Intense, incisive, I loved this and have still not quite shaken off the unease' DAVID NICHOLLS
'I was hooked from the opening pages' CLARE MACKINTOSH
'Simply breathtaking . . . An extraordinary book, at once smart, gripping and hallucinatory’ OBSERVER
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A magnetic novel about two families, strangers to each other, who are forced together on a long weekend gone terribly wrong
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?
_______
FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD 2020
FINALIST FOR THE ORWELL PRIZE 2021
A DAILY TELEGRAPH, GUARDIAN, OBSERVER, IRISH TIMES AND TIME BOOK OF THE YEAR
Everyone is talking about LEAVE THE WORLD BEHIND
'You will probably need to read it in as close to one sitting as possible’
Sunday Times
'A page-turner taking in themes of isolation, race and class’
Guardian
‘A book that could have been tailor-made for our times’
The Times
‘A literary page-turner that will keep you awake even after it ends’
Mail on Sunday
'An exceptional examination of race and class and what the world looks like when it's ending'
Roxane Gay
'A thrilling book – one that will speak to readers who have felt the terror of isolation in these recent months and one that will simultaneously, as great books do, lift them out of it'
Vogue
'Explores complex ideas about privilege and fate with miraculous wit and grace'
Jenny Offill
‘For the reader, the invisible terror outside in Leave the World Behind echoes the sense of disquiet today in a world convulsed by the pandemic’
Financial Times
'Alam's achievement is to see that his genre's traditional arc, which relies on the idea of aftermath, no longer makes sense. Today, disaster novels call for something different'
New Yorker
'Read it with the lights on'
Jenna Bush Hager, October Book Club pick
What 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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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- elizabeth b.
- 24-05-2021
Wonderful just wonderful
This is terrifically well written book and a totally unique idea. Marin Ireland is a great narrator in fact the whole book is brilliant.
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1 person found this helpful
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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
- Willa Arantz
- 04-03-2021
Couldn’t stop listening!
Thoroughly enjoyed this book although it’s story was disturbing, it was beautifully written and I felt I was right there, suspenseful & gripping from the very start.
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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
- Nicholas
- 13-07-2021
wonderful novel
beautifully written and performed. An incredibly human story and so poignant for our current time.
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1 person found this helpful
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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
- Emma
- 15-03-2021
Finished in a day!
I really enjoyed this book. It wasn't what I was expecting at all and kept me intrigued and entertained until the end. Helped also by the great narrator. Would definitely recommend.
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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
- zpgxglohlmewlfpz
- 07-10-2022
different take on the world goes to s#$t
A different take on what happens when the world falls apart. Marin Ireland is perfect as always.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- NatiG
- 18-12-2023
So wanted this to be good… hmm
I bought this excitedly assuming that as Netflix had made this into a movie it would be amazing, and while I did desperately listen right to the end, unable to turn it off in the desperate hope to reach it’s climactic conclusion, unfortunately it did not deliver a satisfying ending. It left me with really little insight into the main characters and realising that it had all felt a little too stretched out with too little substance.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Linda Mattheyse
- 20-01-2023
A bit weird
The storyline is an interesting and creative concept: two families, strangers, finding themselves in the same house, and the tensions that arise therefrom. However, I found the back-story a bit strange and unsatisfying. It has an almost sci-fi feel towards the end. The salvation is in the performance though, the reader is excellent. She was so good at portraying the various characters.
Overall, eh… read it and see what you think.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- ClaudRodgerBurger
- 06-09-2021
wasn't ready for it to end
Ah, I love and hate when authors leave you hanging like that. but, as an imaginary, I do love the hours of speculation it leaves me with.
very well done, if somewhat too close to home at times. if you're reading this, then I say give it a listen. Cheerio.
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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
- Kindle Customer
- 27-12-2023
brilliant discomfort
I hated it, but not because it was a bad book. It's so good I listened to the whole thing while hating it and finding new ways to hate it. I couldn't put it down and by the end, briefly felt as though I had contracted a physical illness. Absolutely engrossing.
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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
- 10-08-2024
Suspenseful
A seductive and realistic account of life on the cusp of destruction. Excellent attention to the details of daily life in a family and between strangers.
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