206 pages
English language
Published Dec. 1, 2021 by AK Press.
A tale of what happens when we can no longer ignore what has been lost in this world.
Grievers is the story of a city so plagued by grief that it can no longer function. Dune’s mother is patient zero of a mysterious illness that stops people in their tracks—in mid-sentence, mid-action, mid-life—casting them into a nonresponsive state from which no one recovers. Dune must navigate poverty and the loss of her mother as Detroit’s hospitals, morgues, and graveyards begin to overflow. As the quarantined city slowly empties of life, she investigates what caused the plague, and what might end it. In anguish, she follows in the footsteps of her late researcher father, who has a physical model of Detroit’s history and losses set up in their basement. She dusts the model off and begins tracking the sick and dying, discovering patterns, finding comrades in curiosity, conspiracies for the fertile …
A tale of what happens when we can no longer ignore what has been lost in this world.
Grievers is the story of a city so plagued by grief that it can no longer function. Dune’s mother is patient zero of a mysterious illness that stops people in their tracks—in mid-sentence, mid-action, mid-life—casting them into a nonresponsive state from which no one recovers. Dune must navigate poverty and the loss of her mother as Detroit’s hospitals, morgues, and graveyards begin to overflow. As the quarantined city slowly empties of life, she investigates what caused the plague, and what might end it. In anguish, she follows in the footsteps of her late researcher father, who has a physical model of Detroit’s history and losses set up in their basement. She dusts the model off and begins tracking the sick and dying, discovering patterns, finding comrades in curiosity, conspiracies for the fertile ground of the city, and the unexpected magic that emerges when the debt of grief is cleared.
Contemplative pandemic novella, weaving in loss, racial disparity, resilience, sitting and walking with grief, and an undercurrent of hopeful action.
Content warning covid-19
it is a book about (generational) grief, loneliness and depression. i think. and there seems to be some sort of allegory about the first year of the covid-19 pandemic.
but, ultimately, i don't know what the story is actually about. i mean, i probably do, but is it compelling? not to me. i hope that someone else could say otherwise though.
the reasons why i managed to finish it is that the writing in itself is good and it's a novella after all so wasn't going to waste too much time.
on a positive note, i liked the quieter (and more realistic?) approach to an "end of the world" scenario humans take in this story. it felt more true and relatable with what was going on (unlike most of the dystopic looters/scavengers/gangs that overcrowd most of these kind of stories).
