The Leftovers

I came to this one after watching and loving the television version and found the book even more fulfilling (although very different). It focuses on what happens when millions of people suddenly disappear from the world’s population and it looks not only at how people deal with this massive loss but also how they deal with the mystery of it, the not knowing why. People don’t only lose loved ones in this book but also their own sense of how the world should work, leaving them with a lot to deal with. I loved the characters, the tight focus… show more.

Two percent of the population suddenly disappears. No one knows where they went or why, which doesn’t stop people from speculating. Building on this inspired premise, Tom Perrotta explores how the people who are left behind deal with their traumatic loss. Some join cults. Others try to hold things together. I was struck by how, in this masterful novel, even the survivors’ weirdest behaviors make a kind of sense given their situations and the culture that we share.