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Posted on October 12, 2020 at 4:00 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek
Leave the World Behind has been published for less than a week, but it has already made a huge splash in the literary world.
Before its release, it had already landed author Rumaan Alam a seven-figure Netflix deal and a nomination for the National Book Award for Fiction.
And with its eerily, accidentally relevant theme, it’s sure to capture the attention of the average Joe and Jane, too.
Leave the World Behind begins with a white family renting a house on Long Island for a vacation that’s interrupted by the late-night arrival of the home’s owners.
The owners, a Black couple, tell the white family that they’re fleeing a power outage in the city — but the chaos doesn’t stay behind, as it turns out.
Alam actually started writing the book in 2018 on Twitter, though he quickly realized this spring that the same tension between safety and confinement that underscores his book had begun to underscore life in Brooklyn.
He shares more insights into the book with Fresh Air’s Dave Davies; you can listen to the complete interview below or head to NPR for the text of the conversation.
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Categories: Author Interview