Fourteen Days

This beguiling novel of the Covid-19 pandemic was coauthored by 36 members of the Authors Guild, including Atwood, Preston, John Grisham, and Celeste Ng. The loosely connected narrative portrays a group of tenants who regularly convene on the rooftop of their New York City apartment building during the lockdown to share stories with one another. It begins on Mar. 31, 2020, with the arrival of a new unnamed super, who inherits a handbook from her predecessor with a list of the current tenants identified by their nicknames. They include “Whitney,” a librarian who works at the Whitney Museum and tells a ghost story about a fallen soldier at the Alamo. There’s also “Maine,” an ER doctor who’s visiting from Maine to help with the overload of Covid cases, and who shares a story about a nun’s ability to predict patients’ time of death at the doctor’s Maine hospital. As the weeks go by, the super declines to share a story of her own until the final evening on April 13, when her revelation casts the tenants’ situation in a new light. Though the authors’ contributions aren’t identified until the end notes, the reader senses various shifts in style and voice, which can be welcome or jarring, depending on one’s taste. Still, fans of literary puzzles will find this worthwhile. (Feb.)