Day: A Novel Kindle Edition by Michael Cunningham

 Book Excerpt:

"A "quietly stunning" (Ocean Vuong) exploration of love and loss, the struggles and limitations of family life—and how we all must learn to live together and apart—from the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Hours 

"Along with George Eliot, Michael Cunningham belongs in that rare group of novelists who hold the world close, with apparently infinite respect, compassion, and tenderness, all while describing the world and its inhabitants unsparingly."—Tony Kushner.

April 5, 2019: In a cozy brownstone in Brooklyn, the veneer of domestic bliss is beginning to crack. Dan and Isabel, husband and wife, are slowly drifting apart—and both seem to be in love with Isabel's younger brother, Robbie. Robbie, the wayward soul of the family, who still lives in the attic loft; Robbie, who, trying to get over his most recent boyfriend, is living vicariously through a glamorous avatar online; Robbie, who now has to move out of the house—and whose departure threatens to break the family apart. And then there is Nathan, age ten, taking his first uncertain steps toward independence, while his sister, Violet, five, does her best not to notice the growing rift between her parents.

April 5, 2020: As the world goes into lockdown, the cozy brownstone is starting to feel more like a prison. Violet is terrified of leaving the windows open and obsessed with keeping her family safe. Isabel and Dan communicate mostly in veiled sleights and frustrated sighs. And dear Robbie is stranded in Iceland, alone in a mountain cabin with nothing but his thoughts—and his secret Instagram life—for company.

April 5, 2021: Emerging from the worst crisis, the family reckons with a new, very different reality—and with what they've learned, what they've lost, and how they might go on."

Title: Day: A Novel
Author: Michael Cunningham
Publisher: Random House
Reviewed By: Arlena Dean
Rating: Four
Review:
"Day" by Michael Cunningham

My Sentiments:

'Day' was quite an engaging read in how this author brings out what was happening in this family during the pandemic [COVID] time for this family. The read described what was going on on April 5 [same day] during the years 2019, 2020, and 2021 as it was for Dan, Isabel, Robbie, Nathan, and Violet. As one reads this story, you will get caught up in its domestic drama of love and this family from Brooklyn, NY. Be ready for a read of dysfunctional, messy, regular people who go on with their daily lives. What was honest about the read was that it showed what went on in their lives and could go on in ours, where their struggles seemed all too familiar. It was quite a read as one will see how this family will recover from all of this catastrophe over the years and now adjusting to the newness that has currently gone on in this melancholy stunning read of one day, three years, and one family.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my views.