literarychronicles's reviews
690 reviews

 The book starts on 13 March 2020. It was the last working day before everything closed down due to Covid. It ends in May 2023.

Diana & Finn have the perfect life & are about to embark on a dream vacation to Galapagos when Covid enters the city. Being a doctor, Finn has to stay back, but encourages Diana to take the trip alone. The dream vacation turns to a nightmare for her as the island had also shut down due to the virus. However, Diana is adopted by a local family and is able to enjoy the island while she’s stuck there. However, both Diana and Finn miss each other & often wish the other was there.

This is a bit similar to our experience. For the first 10 months of the pandemic, Sha and I were stuck in 2 countries. The differences were that I was working full time, stuck at his parents’ home, and that we both had excellent Wi-Fi. However, I do understand being stuck & wishing that the other was there.

The twist at the end of part 1 wasn’t something I expected. I am not going to talk about it as it will ruin the story for those who haven’t read yet.

Throughout the book, I was angry with Diana about her behaviour. However, in hindsight, I can’t help but wonder whether I am equipped to judge her. I have no idea what her experience with her tragedy was like.

There’s always a sense of melancholia in Picoult’s writing & this book was no different. I think Picoult has drawn a realistic picture of what life was like during the Covid lockdown.

I liked how parts of this book felt like a love letter to the healthcare workers. I do not know whether it was medically accurate, but the struggle, suffering, isolation, and the loss is what I remember. It was so real that I felt it was more a documentary than a novel.

⁉️ In the end note, the author says that humans mark tragedy, meaning that everyone remembers what they were doing when a tragedy hits. Do you remember what you were doing on 13th March 2020? 

David is an American traveller in Paris. His girlfriend Hella is in Spain taking some time to decide whether she wants to marry David. In the meantime, David runs out of funds & has to borrow some from Jaques, a wealthy businessman. In return, he has to accompany Jaques when he goes out. At one bar, he meets Giovanni. Jaques is interested in him, but Giovanni and David are instantly attracted to each other. David fights the attraction as he doesn’t want anyone to know his interest in the young man. However, the night ends with David going home with Giovanni.

This is the second novel written by James Baldwin and is considered a classic of gay literature. Although this is the story about a gay man, it really is the story of love. It is also the story of anyone who struggles to fit in to the social norms.

David, the protagonist, envisions a conventional life for himself & is determined to live that life. However, he finds it unable to repress his impulses. He tries to get away by proposing to his girlfriend, but he is tortured by his conscience. Throughout this short novel, we see how David struggles to keep his sexuality hidden. His constant struggle is between his true desires and his sense of convention. He knows he will become a social pariah if he gives into his desires. Hence, he tries to do what’s accepted to survive. We see his struggle with being gay, the shame, and how that shame taints everything else in his life. His need to escape who he really is resulted in him losing both his fiancé & his lover.

I struggled to write this review. I don’t think I can ever do justice to this masterpiece. I found this book to be heart-breaking. Yet it was so elegant & beautiful. The pain the reader feels for the characters is debilitating.

This was the first book by Baldwin I read, but it won’t be the last. I found the first few chapters to be slow, but I'm glad I read on. I struggled throughout with the French parts. Although these phrases can be understood in context, I stopped to translate each one of them.

This is recommended to anyone who’d love a classic psychological novel.