Lucy

Lucy is the main character and first person narrator of the novel. Not long prior to the novel’s start, Lucy’s second husband David dies. In the wake of David’s death, Lucy rediscovers an unexpected kinship with her first husband William. Shortly after the two take a trip to Grand Cayman together, the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic breaks out in New York. William insists that Lucy leave the city with him and spend a couple of weeks in Maine together. Despite William’s concern, Lucy fails to understand the gravity of what is happening around her.

Over the course of the weeks that follow, Lucy begins to realize that the virus is not going away. She therefore tries to settle into her new daily life with William. Although she is glad for his company, she often feels frustrated by William’s distracted and detached state of being. She...