Book review: "The Leftovers" by Tom Perrotta

This was a book club book for my work book club, and while sometimes those picks can be very hit or miss this one was a hit for me. Though, to be fair, it was already on my TBR.

The story is this: basically a worldwide phenomenon occurs and people suddenly disappear. It's kind of like the concept of The Rapture but there seems to be no rhyme or reason to who is taken. (Part of me was desperate to know who and why but we never find out, but I think that it is better that way.) It follows the people who are left behind and how they deal with being...left behind.

I like that people deal with the practical questions (If my husband disappears are we still considered married? Do I need to divorce him? What about life insurance money? His 401k? Is there going to be more people taken? Are those people dead?) and just the sense of the community reeling. 
I feel like the United States kind of got a sense for this in a small way after September 11th. The people being vulnerable and scared and not knowing what happens next and crying in the soup aisle at the grocery store and it not being weird.

So the book follows a group of people who have either had family members disappear (one woman had her husband and her 2 kids disappear, her whole family) or people who didn't have family members disappear but are still grappling with this ridiculously huge life change. 

Weird cults spring up (super interesting plot line for me) as people try to deal with what their lives look like now and it does not always go well, in fact it can also end in violence and sometimes does.

I thought that this was an interesting read and I hope it generates some interesting conversations at book club whenever we get around to talking about it!