Well, it’s still with us, isn’t it. The vaccine came around at the start of the year. Delighted people lined up to get it. Spring came and we all breathed a sigh of relief: Everyday life was getting back to normal. Then the delta variant reared its ugly head, rampaging through the unvaccinated — and here we go again. This blankety-blank pandemic won’t go away until a lot more of us man up and get the vaccine.
There is not one aspect of our lives that the pandemic doesn’t affect in some way, leaving us to wonder if “normal life” will ever return. Maybe this is why I find myself thinking in terms of life before, during, and after. So the three books below also reflect this mindset.
Before
Robin Cook practically invented the medical thriller with “Coma” back in the 1970’s, and he always scares us with background and inside information that the layperson wouldn’t already know. “Pandemic” was published in 2018, so it doesn’t deal with covid specifically. Rather it shows us a fictional pandemic that moves with incredible speed, starting in a New York City subway. Dr. Jack Stapleton, a medical examiner, is baffled by the disease, which seems to have a connection to organ transplant patients. The book follows his exploits and those of other scientists to stop the potential pandemic before it gets completely out of control. Don’t expect a lot of character-driven storyline; it’s completely plot-driven and very fast moving, and you’re caught up in the action.
During
“The Summer of Lost and Found” by South Carolinian Mary Alice Monroe takes place during the covid lockdown in mid 2020. Monroe is known for her beach-centric books, so this one is no surprise in that it has a heroine, potential suitors, family members, and beach gatherings. The only added element is the pandemic. It forces the reader to relive all the insecurities of 2020 such as loss of employment, uncertainty over mixing with others, inability to travel, and just general feelings of unease. Remember when we knew very little about how the virus was spread, and how scary it was as we waited for a vaccine? All this came back to me while reading this book. It helped me realize that — as hard as 2021 still is — at least it’s better than 2020!
Beach books are usually known for the escapism we sometimes crave. If you’re a beach book kind of person, also check out Dorothea Benton Frank, Nancy Thayer, Mary Kay Andrews, and Elin Hilderbrand.
After
A story that affected me profoundly was 2014’s “Station Eleven” by Emily St. John Mandel. Imagine a world where there’s no electricity, no mass communication, no running water, no governmental agencies. This is the world after a terrible plague that kills 95% of the entire population. People exist in small, greatly-separated communities that struggle to survive — a sort of return to medieval life except for sad memories of a better, easier existence. The plotline follows one group of survivors, a traveling minstrel-type band of entertainers who do plays and music for the small communities they encounter. The main character, Kirsten, has few memories of life before Year Zero because she was only a young child when the pandemic struck. Eventually her troupe makes its way to the site of an abandoned airport, because they’ve heard rumors that it houses something called the Museum of Civilization. The keeper has collected items from the pre-pandemic past, a sad assortment of useless artifacts like coins, stamps, and laptops, which at least keep some memories of their former world alive. Lest I leave the impression that the story is all gloom and doom, I’ll mention that it ends with a hopeful sign that civilization may be making a slow comeback.
All of these books made me nostalgic for the world as it used to be, and hopeful for a world that we all hope to see again someday. It will take everyone getting the vaccination, in the same way that vaccinations for other communicable diseases are an accepted practice that we don’t even question. In the meantime we wait and hope. Happy reading!
Kaye West recently retired from the Henry County Library System. She enjoys reading, taking daily walks, and spending time with friends. She lives in McDonough with her husband.
