The plot is set during the recent COVID-19 pandemic. What do you think of the way the main characters reacted to the lockdown? How were their experiences similar to or different from your own?
I think it was harder on these characters than it was for me, personally. They’re depicted as much more outgoing than I am, plus they have close-knit families. I think they truly felt a huge loss when they were unable to interact as much as normal.
As an introvert, frankly I appreciated having the excuse to just do my own thing and was actually a little sad to have to engage with society again.
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Some of the descriptions were interesting reminders of how it felt during the pandemic…which seems so long ago now. The feeling the really resonated with me was the notion that “now there was so much time you could exercise, write, fill in the blank” for whatever you hadn’t been doing that you thought you should.
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I agree with you kim.kovacs, I believe these women were very social and the backdrop of the isolation from Covid, let them reflect on their lives and dreams they had for the future. I too, enjoyed not having to be so social, and enjoy my alone time.
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I thought the author did a great job of setting the book during the COVID-19 pandemic without making the book about the pandemic. The uncertainty and fear came through, but the introspectiveness caused by the pause in normal life is what struck me. The characters reflected on their lives, and I think a lot of people did do that.
Personally, I worked as normal, in an office, not at home, through the entire pandemic, because I work in an essential industry. My children were grown. I would say that my daily life was affected less than most people’s.
My Covid experience was different from others because I had just moved into an apartment building for senior citizens. I wanted to meet others. We couldn’t have visitors come into the building but we could visit each other. Therefore we played cards, formed an exercise group etc. This way I made many new friends which probably wouldn’t have happened so quickly in a normal time.
I think an individuals experience of the lockdown was very personal. I did not relate to any of the characters. I was a new grandma, for the first time. Missing two years of early interaction with my granddaughter was indescribable. I actually found these women to be petty.
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I found interesting that Chia couldn’t find in herself to write. May be she needed the external world interactions to be creative. My experience was different. My family is in a different country and we started to meet on zoom. We met during the holidays, on birthdays, Halloween (all disguised) and we have continued this tradition since Covid. We love to meet in person on zoom and talk about our lives. We even started a bookclub online.