Wish You Were Here

 

I'm not sure if I mentioned it here - or just in emails to some friends, but way back in March 2020, when Covid was new and even more uncertain than it is now, I used to lay awake at night wondering what a novel about that time period could be like. I had lots of ideas for stories... but my big question was, every single night... yes, every single night... How is this pandemic going to end? How does the story end?

Somewhere in one of my journals I have a list of ideas for pandemic stories... but Jodi Picoult actually quickly wrote one and got it published. (I'm not sure if I would have considered the same exact ending... but... NO SPOILERS HERE!!!)

Wish You Were Here is Jodi Picoult's novel that she wrote while quarantining at home with her family during the early part of the pandemic. It examines how life changes so quickly and what resiliciency humans have. It also gives what I imagine is a pretty accurate telling of how difficult this pandemic has been on our medical professionals and hospital workers, especially during spring 2020 when so much was still unknown and vaccines were still a dream in the eyes of the public.

Diana and Finn are living the life in Manhattan. They have career plans, marriage plans, family plans. Diana works for Sotheby's in art auction sales and Finn, her boyfriend, not her fiance, is a surgical resident at New York Presbyterian Hospital. March 13, 2020 is the day they are supposed to leave for their bucket list trip to the Galapagos. Only Finn can't go. No one is allowed to leave for vacation from the hospital. He tells Diana that she should still go. She's got the time off from work and it would be a shame to lose the money spent on a nonrefundable trip. She should go. She is torn, but ultimately she goes.

One thing after another gets screwed up. Her suitcase is lost. The island is under quarantine. Her hotel (which has the only semi-reliable internet on the island) is closed. She's stranded, without a place to stay, without her suitcase, with very little money, until the borders reopen.

Due to the kindness of a stranger, Diana finds a place to stay. She finds ways to get food. Forging a connection with the stranger, Abuela - who speaks no English and Diana speaks no Spanish - and Abuela's family, life goes on. Diana starts wondering about her life at home, her grand plan and her choices.

I'm kind of glad that I read nothing about this novel before I started it. I only knew that there would be a twist, kind of a signature Jodi Picoult  thing. I really, really enjoyed this novel. I know there are some people who can read about a pandemic as we're living through a pandemic (because despite what many thing, this pandemic thing is far from over) and there are some who cannot. I fall into the first category. Consider my recommendation based on where you might fall.

The Pull of the Stars

 

The Pull of the Stars was my third novel by Emma Donoghue. (I first read Room, and more recently, in 2017, read Hood.) I think that The Pull of the Stars is my favorite. Donoghue started writing this novel, about 3 days in a maternity ward in a Dublin hospital for women suffering with influenza during the 1918 flu pandemic, in 2018. She submitted it to her published right about the time that the world learned that we were at the start of yet another global pandemic. Talk about being prescient!

 

What really astounded me were things that Donoghue wrote about 1918 Dublin that could be written about “Anywhere, USA” right now. Wacky treatments, conspiracy theories, propaganda. Patients being treated in storage rooms. Giving credit to frontline healthcare workers for going the extra mile.

 

All that was set against the backdrop of 1918 Dublin, in the midst of World War I and Ireland’s political upheaval.

 

This, however, is really a novel about women. Women’s lives, women’s friendships. The central character is Nurse Julia who lives with her brother, Tim, who was left mute by what he had seen during his combat days. She’s put in charge of a makeshift maternity ward, just for those women who have been diagnosed with influenza. The mothers-to-be had varying degrees of symptoms and came from a variety of  social circumstances. On Julia’s first day in charge, a young woman, Bridey, who thinks she’s “about 22” years old, appears out of nowhere and  becomes an amazing help to Julia in keeping things going in the ward.

This book might not be for everyone, but I enjoyed this well-written, totally engaging novel.

As Bright as Heaven

I wanted to learn a little bit more about life during the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic and this book was recommended to me. Susan Meissner's historical fiction novel, As Bright as Heaven, was one that was recommended to me.

Other than it being set in Philadelphia, an epicenter of that pandemic, I didn't learn much more than things were more of less like here now. Except that there was a war going on in England. And when people were stuck in their homes, they were stuck in their homes totally isolated. No internet. No TV. Now that I think of it, they never did mention listening to the radio or reading newspapers.

The Bright family of Quakertown, PA is invited to move to Philadelphia so the father, Thomas, can take over his uncle's funeral home. They'd just lost an infant son so the chance to start over somewhere else was appealing. Thomas Bright, his wife and 3 daughters head off to live with Uncle Fred.

The story follows the adaptation to life in the city and then the impact of the flu on the Bright family. Some survive, some don't. But those that are left behind have to live with the lingering effects of their life experiences. The girls deal with career choices and romance choices all influenced by what they experienced during the pandemic and the waning days of World War I.

This is much more a family drama about recovery after loss than it is specifically about a flu pandemic. It was easy to read and a change of pace from what I'd been reading.

Pandemic reading

I haven't blogged in quite awhile. I was caught up in following the early news of the novel coronavirus and in trying to get the renovations on my rental property completed. And I was hardly reading. I was way, way, way, too distracted.

I'd started reading Little Women for book club as all these distractions started. Some days I'd pick it up and read a little bit. Other days, I didn't have the concentration to pick it up at all. I'm not even going to bother writing a review of Little Women. I only got through about 1/3 of the book by the time of the book club meeting. I was able to discuss the book because I'd read it twice. Once as a child and a second time just about a dozen years ago. But right now with my limited concentration, that is not how I want to spend my brain energy.

I kept thinking back to the novel The Things That Keep Us Here by Carla Buckley that I read in 2011. It's a book about a pandemic. At the time I read it, parts of the story seemed so far-fetched. I'll spare you the terrifying parts of the book that have stayed with me. I don't remember how it ended, though. As a friend replied when I asked, "It probably ended happily ever after." I don't think that's so but I'll hold on to that thought. I might even still have that book hanging around the house but I don't want to touch it. Just thinking about picking it up gives me the creeps.

There are some funny memes popping up on social media. I mean, isn't being isolated at home a reader's dream? The perfect time to tackle that TBR list? Maybe for some readers. This reader is too distracted by the news. I normally read for at least two book clubs each month. Plus another book that I just want to read. But right now while my concentration is challenged, I need to read things that grip me from the start and keep me wanting to go back for more. The books don't have to uplifting. They haven't been if you've check out the latest entries on my reading log. But they have to quickly engage me. Do you have any recommendations for me?

Lots of my recommendations are coming from Renee's Reading Club, a private group on Facebook. Renee is a librarian and between Renee and the over 10,000 members in the group, I'm getting some good recommendations. If you're on Facebook, you might want to check it out.

And thank heavens for e-books!