Book description
What if - whoosh, right now, with no explanation - a number of us
simply vanished? Would some of us collapse? Would others of us go on,
one foot in front of the other, as we did before the world turned upside down?
That's what the bewildered citizens of Mapleton, who lost many of their
neighbors, friends and lovers in the event known as the Sudden
Departure, have to figure out. Because nothing has been the same since
it happened-not marriages, not friendships, not even the relationships
between parents and children.
Kevin Garvey, Mapleton's new mayor, wants to speed up the healing
process, to bring a sense of renewed hope and purpose to his traumatized
community. Kevin's own family has fallen apart in the wake of the
disaster: his wife, Laurie, has left to join the Guilty Remnant, a
homegrown cult whose members take a vow of silence; his son, Tom, is
gone, too, dropping out of college to follow a sketchy prophet named
Holy Wayne. Only Kevin's teenaged daughter, Jill, remains, and she's
definitely not the sweet “A” student she used to be. Kevin wants to help
her, but he's distracted by his growing relationship with Nora Durst, a
woman who lost her entire family on October 14th and is still reeling
from the tragedy, even as she struggles to move beyond it and make a new start.
With heart, intelligence and a rare ability to illuminate the struggles
inherent in ordinary lives, Tom Perrotta has written a startling,
thought-provoking novel about love, connection and loss. 'There are
few writers more entertaining or adept than Tom Perrotta at explaining
the frustrations, ennui and creeping darkness at the heart of American
suburbia' Vogue Magazine
'The Steinbeck of Suburbia' Time
'Read The Leftovers. Don't get left behind' USA Today
'The champion of stateside suburbia' Observer Tom Perrotta is the
author of several works of fiction, including 'Little Children', 'Joe
College' and 'Election'. He lives outside Boston, Massachusetts.
