Day - Michael Cunningham

Michael Cunningham’s first novel in a decade zeroes in on April 5th in three consecutive years, 2019, 2020 and 2021 and three different settings: Brooklyn, Iceland and upstate New York, with Covid providing its own dark backdrop. It is about being adrift in middle age in the first part of the 21st century but, more than that, it describes what family is like now. 

In 2019 Isabel and Dan, their two children, Violet and Nathan, and Isabel’s gay brother, Robbie, live together in a Brooklyn brownstone. They all love each other very much but the children are growing older and need more space. Dan is trying to resurrect his glory days as a mediocre rock musician. Isabel is circling the drain at a magazine that is about to go under. Ten year old Nathan seems troubled and Violet is an obnoxiously precocious five year old. The time has come for Robbie to move out but he is having trouble finding housing in NYC that he can afford on his elementary school teacher’s salary. Then there is Wolfe, an Instagram character created by Isabel and Robbie, who lives an enviable fictional lifestyle as a gay pediatrician and has 3,407 followers on the platform. 

Dan’s sculptor brother, Garth, is waiting for his career to take off. He became a sperm donor to Chess, his lesbian friend. They have an infant son, Odin, but do not live together. Chess is uncomfortable when Garth, who is irresponsible and unreliable, wants to become more involved in the child’s life.

In 2020 Covid-19 has exploded and the world goes into lockdown. 

In 2021 the characters are coming to terms with a changed world.

I love Cunningham’s work and Day is no exception. It is a brief but very poignant novel. When I put the book down I cried for a bit.