Three Novels by Rumaan Alam

“Leave the World Behind” (Ecco, 2020), by Rumaan Alam, was one of the “hot” novels (literary division) of 2020. Interest in its strange yet compelling story was enhanced by its exploration of race and class issues, combined with its apocalyptic tone that resonated with our inchoate (and not so inchoate) fears during the plague we are living through. A White couple and their teenaged children rent a vacation home on Long Island, and strange things begin to happen. Then an older Black couple appears at their door, stating that they are the owners of the house, and that something strange has been driving people out of New York City. There is no phone, television, or Internet reception, so no one knows what is happening. The story continues to get stranger, and there are human connections made in the face of the unknown, but always with the undertone of uncertainty about each other. Race and class are present in the interactions, although under the surface. In general I don’t like fiction that in any way approaches science fiction, but this one kept my attention, more for the interpersonal parts than for the mysterious events. I had read reviews of the novel, but before those appeared this year, I didn’t know of this author. So I found and read his two earlier novels. “Rich and Pretty” (2016) tells the story of two close women friends whose lives gradually diverge. I always like the theme of female friendship, and I liked this novel, but it was not memorable. Alam’s second novel, “That Kind of Mother” (2018), is a more complex story, exploring motherhood, race (again), female friendships (again!), adoptions, and more. The story is absorbing and well written. All three of the novels are insightful psychologically. I liked “That Kind of Mother” best of the three, but each of the three made me think and offered an engrossing reading experience. I will definitely watch out for Alam’s next novel.