The Leftovers by Tom Perrotta was published in 2011 and chronicles the lives of the residents of a small northeastern US town in the aftermath of a rapture-like event. Following the random disappearances of millions of people across the globe, the characters of The Leftovers seek various modes of coping with the grief of sudden death as well as the notion of being left behind in others’ absence. The Leftovers was adapted for television by HBO in 2014 and ran for three seasons.

This summary refers to the 2011 hardcover edition published by St. Martin’s Press.

Content warning: This guide includes references to death by suicide.

Plot Summary

The Leftovers begins in the immediate aftermath of a rapture-like event in which millions of people across the globe suddenly disappeared. The Garvey family of Mapleton, at the center of the novel, did not lose a member to the event but struggles to cope with the grief and uncertainty around it. Wife and mother Laurie Garvey decides to join Mapleton’s Guilty Remnant, a cultish organization that believes the end of humanity is near; its members seek to live an austere life of remembrance while condemning the rest of Mapleton for moving on with their lives. Laurie abandons her family to live with the Guilty Remnant. Her son, Tom, decides to drop out of university and commit himself to the Healing Hug Movement led by Holy Wayne Gilchrest.

Three years after the rapture, Laurie’s husband, Kevin Garvey, acts as Mayor of Mapleton. Kevin believes in the importance of returning to normal daily life. He lives with his teenage daughter, Jill, and Jill’s friend Aimee. Both girls neglect their schoolwork in favor of partying with friends, but Jill is becoming tired of having Aimee dictate their lives. She begins to pull away from her friend to study, attend school, and return to her normal life.

In Laurie’s absence, Kevin seeks the company of several women but is unable to create a sustained relationship with any of them until he meets Nora Durst at a Mapleton event. Nora, who is branded the saddest person in Mapleton after losing her husband and two children to the rapture, recently discovered that her husband had an ongoing affair with their children’s preschool teacher. Nora and Kevin begin dating, but she struggles to match his enthusiasm for moving on with their lives following the grief of the rapture.

Meanwhile, Tom Garvey adjusts to the dissolution of the Healing Hug Movement following Holy Wayne Gilchrest’s arrest on charges that include underage sexual misconduct. One of Gilchrest’s “spiritual brides,” Christine, arrives on his doorstep. Tom is assigned to escort her to Boston, where she is to give birth to the messiah son that Holy Wayne predicts will be the savior of the world. They disguise themselves as members of the Barefoot People, a group invested in contemplation, travel, and pleasure. They hitchhike and take a series of buses from San Francisco to Boston, during which time Tom falls in love with her. They reach Boston and stay with a couple that remains devoted to Holy Wayne until Christine gives birth to a daughter at the same time that Holy Wayne pleads guilty, admitting that he fabricated the spiritual aspects of his leadership.

As a member of the Guilty Remnant, Laurie is assigned to train a new recruit, a young woman named Meg. The two form a close bond with each other and are transferred to new living quarters at Outpost 17. The residents of this house are paired up and tasked with the Guilty Remnant’s secret motive of creating a martyr out of each pair. Laurie serves Kevin divorce papers as a final break from her former life; she and Meg become intimately close. When Laurie is ordered to shoot Meg and make her a martyr, Laurie is unable to kill her. Meg chooses to die by suicide for the sake of the Guilty Remnant.

Following the birth of Christine’s daughter and the collapse of the Healing Hug Movement, Tom drives her and the baby back toward Mapleton. Christine refuses to acknowledge the baby, disappointed that she did not give birth to the male savior as she so strongly believed she would. Christine abandons Tom and the baby at a rest stop to follow a group of Barefoot People. When Tom arrives back in Mapleton, he realizes that the town is completely unchanged. He leaves the baby on the Garveys’ porch and follows Christine.

Nora is prepared to leave Mapleton forever, assume a new identity, and begin a new life. She goes to Kevin’s house to deliver her goodbye letter. Instead, she finds Christine’s baby on the porch and presents the baby to Kevin when he returns home from a softball game.