It’s been five years since we began the Covid pandemic, a world-wide horrific event that touched everyone’s lives, either directly or indirectly. Widely shared events like wars, natural and economic disasters, or revolutions usually precipitate an array of fictional novels in the following years. In the wake of Covid, there have been only a few fictional novels tackling this tragedy. One was released only 18 months after the start of the pandemic. Some of the more successful are:Toxic, by Norwegian author Helga Flatland; Ali Smith’s Companion Piece; last year’s Booker Prize winner, Orbital, by Samantha Harvey; and Burntcoat by Sarah Hall.
Notwithstanding these acclaimed novels, I can understand why authors see a big challenge with portraying human relationships in the constraints of family zoom calls. How can you show real intimacy in FaceTime? How can lovers, rushing into each other’s arms after an absence, kiss through their masks? How can adventurous protagonists have any fun against a backdrop of abandoned streets and shopping centers? Anything lighthearted, humorous or whimsical would seem oddly out of place.
Editor Hermione Thompson, from Hamish Hamilton, summed it up with this:
“We start trying to make sense of an event from the moment it kicks off, and art which comes out of that white heat of experience can be incredibly powerful. But you have to wait a bit longer – often a lot longer – for the wider picture to come into focus. And once you can see it, perhaps you have to wait a while more before you can bear to actually look at it.”
Covid was a big slice of our lives, and it must be immortalized in fiction as well as non-fiction. I tip my hat to those intrepid authors who are willing to write fiction against this setting.
Please browse through fiction, and all your favorite genres, at the fourth annual Desert Foothills Book Festival! It’ll be held on Saturday, October 18 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at The Holland Center, 34250 N 60th. Street, Scottsdale.
