A New York Times Notable Book for 2011 A Washington Post Notable Fiction Book for 2011A USA Today 10 Books We Loved Reading in 2011 TitleOne of NPRs 10 Best Novels of 2011 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?Thats 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, Mapletons new mayor, wants to speed up the healing process, to bring a sense of renewed hope and purpose to his traumatized community.
