Meredith hasn’t left her house in 1,214 days when we first meet her. It’s easy to judge this, to think it’s sad and unhealthy and even to those lacking in sympathy, pathetic. It’s easy to think that she must be miserable.
And yet, she isn’t. She’s not exactly happy with her situation, but she has made the best of it. As I listened, I was struck by the fact that, despite her circumstances, Meredith quite likely has a healthier lifestyle than many people. She eats nutritious food that she enjoys, she has a daily exercise regimen, she’s gainfully employed as a freelance writer, has a cat and a close friend, is part of online support groups, and has a therapist. She has edifying hobbies – puzzles and extensive reading – and even has a daily limit on her screen use to make sure she is, in her own words, using her time.
To some extent, we can now all imagine what it’s like to stay in our homes because of our recent experience with lockdown during the early days of the pandemic. It was forced upon us by circumstance, and so it was for Meredith as well – though we don’t know what that circumstance was until later in the book. We all had to figure out how to use what was available to us to make life fulfilling and manageable. We all got our groceries and necessities delivered, shifted to remote work, got used to communicating virtually, and took up new hobbies that would not only kill time, but also give us something to engage with and accomplish (sourdough, anyone?). This experience should make Meredith’s situation feel, if not familiar, at least a little less odd.
Because of this historical moment, I feel like this book was published at a good time. I suspect that this will still feel strange to many readers – most people have bounced back to regular normal from “new normal” quickly and don’t want to linger in lockdown-land. But it’s close enough that we do have that experience in our memories, we know what it feels like, and we had varying levels of comfort with it by the end.
