By Nick A. Zaino III Globe Correspondent, Updated July 8, 2020, 12:00 p.m.
Paul Tremblay’s “Survivor Song” should come with a disclaimer: This story is fiction, and any similarity to the life you have lived since March is purely coincidental. Consider the prelude, in which the pregnant Natalie frets over her husband, Paul, who is on a grocery run. The store is just a few minutes away from the house, but Paul is stuck in a line outside waiting to pick up rationed goods. The couple exchange worried texts that Paul might be exposed to the mysterious and deadly virus that has been spreading throughout Massachusetts and the rest of the country, baffling scientists and overwhelming hospitals.
The story alternates chapters and points of view between Natalie (“Nats”) and her longtime friend, Dr. Ramola Sherman (“Rams”), a Norwood-based pediatrician. In the first chapter, Ramola is resting up for her next 16-hour shift at her local hospital, which is struggling to deal with a surge in patients with the virus. She talks by group text with her nurses, and they express their concerns about their lack of proper PPE, how the government doesn’t seem to know how to handle the growing pandemic, and how they fear for their own safety.
It is worth noting that Tremblay turned this book in to his publisher last August and finished final edits in October, long before the onset of the pandemic. While it’s nearly impossible to read the story outside of the context of current events, it’s also somewhat unfair to the book.
Read the full article here: Finding strength during a violent epidemic in ‘Survivor Song’