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When the pandemic swept into our lives in 2020, most of us emerged humbled and changed. No other event has been so integral in testing our sense of identity -- who we are, what we are looking for, and what is really important in our lives.

Now, three years later, many writers are striving to relay how this pivotal time that so transformed us. But none so far, in my opinion, are as successful as Michael Cunningham as he elegantly spotlights a family on April 5th during three momentous and sequential years: 2019, 2020, and 2021.

The book begins in 2019 and introduces us to Dan and Isabel, a couple whose foundation is slowly cracking. The glue that helps hold them together is Isabel’s younger gay brother, Robbie, who will soon move out of their attic, and in the meantime, counts the "likes" received for his alluring online avatar. Both Dan and Isabel love Robbie in their own complex way and recognize the dynamics of their own relationship will shift when he leaves. Their two sensitive children, Nathan and Violet, who sense, but are not fully aware, of Robbie's imminent departure, and are slowly emerging into the people they will eventually become.

Peripherally, Dan’s brother Garth is struggling to define the meaning of fatherhood. He agreed to be a sperm donor for his gay female friend, Chess. Now the baby is here, and to his surprise, he has developed strong feelings, not only for the little boy, but for Chess herself.

A year later, the pandemic has been introduced into this petri dish, with all the family in lockdown minus one: Robbie, who is stranded in Iceland, alone with his Instagram creation. As cracks deepen, family members must get real and confront the personal avatars -- the false sense of identity that they've been sending out into the world. By the time 2021 rolls in, each character will be a little older and a little wiser as they face different reality and learn what it means to forge a new path.

Michael Cunningham’s new book is well worth the 10-year rate. It’s beautifully crafted, exquisitely written, and mature with insights as he explores what it means to come home to oneself. I am delighted to have been given the opportunity to be an early reader by Random House in exchange for an honest review.