Overall, it is steeped in a unique intensity many health care workers have unfortunately grown familiar with over the last year, but it ends on an unexpected note of hope, which was a welcome conclusion after a stressful read. At times it is optimistic and at times it is tragic, as one might expect in the genre.
12) will all resonate with readers for years to come. Allusions to public health messaging about the importance of masks, restrictions on gatherings, confusion about the origins of a virulent disease, and the protagonist’s observation that “the whole world was a machine grinding to a halt” (p.
Keeping that timeframe in mind, it is all the more fascinating to see how many ways history has repeated itself this time around when compared to Donoghue’s descriptions of 1918. As our current pandemic picked up steam, the publishing process was fast-tracked and the book was released last July. Interestingly enough, Donoghue mentions in the novel’s afterword that she started writing it in late 2018, to commemorate the 100-year anniversary of the flu pandemic, and submitted her final draft to her publisher in early March 2020. It provides a valuable retrospective look at how health care workers weathered the storm over 100 years ago. Obviously, the parallels between this story and the last year of the COVID-19 pandemic make it a timely read.
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