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The Leftovers (novel)The Leftovers is a 2011 novel by American author Tom Perrotta chronicling life on earth after a rapture-like event takes some and leaves others behind. The billions left behind are all touched by the loss of loved ones in the "Sudden Departure", compounded by the significant social and philosophical concerns and implications of what it means to be left behind, when others were chosen.

A television adaptation premiered on HBO on June 29, 2014.

Plot
Several years after a rapture-like event in which millions of people worldwide suddenly vanish without explanation, the citizens of Mapleton, Ohio are still struggling to cope with the massive loss and resulting culture shift. The story is told episodically, revolving around the four members of the Garvey family, who have each begun an unlikely relationship following the event.

Kevin Garvey � The patriarch of the Garvey family, Kevin is a prominent local businessman enjoying early retirement during the event. Afterwards, he is compelled to run for mayor of Mapleton to replace the psychologically compromised incumbent. Kevin stresses the importance of returning to normality as a way for the survivors to cope through initiatives like survivors' mixers and adult recreation leagues. The other major policy of his tenure in office is an effort to ease tension between the town and the Guilty Remnant (GR), an ascetic religious group that aims to provoke people into remembering the losses of the event and how meaningless life is. Following a violent conflict between police and the GR, Kevin has taken a hands off approach to their existence, preferring to ignore them entirely.

Kevin's wife leaves him to join the Guilty Remnant and he struggles to balance raising his daughter actively with respecting her privacy while she deals with the event and the breaking up of the Garvey family. He also finds he is unable to sustain new relationships with women, making a few failed attempts. Kevin develops a relationship with Nora Durst, a woman who has become quasi famous in Mapleton for losing her husband and both children in the event. Nora suffers a major depressive episode following the loss of her family, obsessively watching her children's favorite TV show, avoiding the holidays, and riding her bike for hours at a time. Nora is dealt a further blow when the town pastor, who has become a muckraking amateur journalist to reconcile how the event may have invalidated his own beliefs, publishes a tract that reveals Nora's husband had been carrying on an affair with her children's much younger preschool teacher.

Kevin and Nora connect at a mixer after Nora confronts her former husband's mistress. Nora finds she has more sympathy than she expected with the woman over their mutual frustration with her husband's emotional distance and manipulation. Nora pursues Kevin, who is hesitant, but impulsively agrees to take a trip to Florida with her. Afterwards they settle into a relationship, but Nora is bothered that she does not feel like the �good girlfriend� she was always proud of being in college. Their burgeoning relationship falls apart on Valentine's Day when Kevin breaks one of the conventions of their arrangement by sharing personal feelings about his family, which makes Nora uncomfortable. She leaves him at the restaurant when he goes to the restroom.

Kevin is served divorce papers by his wife, and realizes that his daughter is in danger of not graduating high school. He has fallen into a domestic routine with his daughter's friend, Aimee, who has been living with them, drinking coffee together in the morning before they both go to work. Kevin is alarmed at the increasing flirtation between them, culminating that Spring. He resolves to avoid being alone with Aimee to suspend the flirtation. The Spring softball league begins and even though his team is short handed Kevin plays anyway. He finds great satisfaction in the game and his ability to handle a fly ball, even in adverse conditions.

Nora decides to leave Mapleton and adopt a new identity. She bleaches her hair but finds it's difficult to completely shed her identity when it comes time to sell her house. She writes a letter to leave for Kevin, explaining why she ran from him. In it, she is finally able to admit her ambivalence towards her family at the exact moment they disappeared, which had been a troubling source of guilt and anger. Opting to hand deliver the letter instead of mail it Nora discovers an infant left on the Garvey doorstep, instantly bonding with the child just as Kevin returns from his game.

Laurie Garvey � Kevin's wife. Laurie is a new recruit in the Guilty Remnant, a religious group she was initially skeptical of, but is recruited to after her best friend joins. The GR are mute, wear all white, must always smoke in public, and stage silent confrontations with the people of Mapleton. Their goal is to remind everyone that they have been left behind in the event, and prevent the resumption of the status quo.
After Laurie's integration into the group she is assigned a trainee, Meg. Meg is younger and less emotionally stable than Laurie, frequently remembering the wedding she had been planning before joining the GR. The two form a strong friendship and perform their GR duties, following around townspeople and confronting people from their former lives. Meg must confront her former fianc�, who she is distressed to learn has begun new relationships and seems to have resumed his old life. Laurie is asked to serve her husband divorce papers to gain access to half of the family assets, because this is how the GR can afford to maintain operations. On Christmas Meg and Laurie visit Kevin. He treats them like regular holiday visitors, and before they leave gives Laurie the gift their daughter left for her, a lighter. Touched by the gift Laurie uses the lighter once, but then must throw it out to remain within the tenets of the GR.

Laurie and Meg are �promoted

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