WHEN WE LOST TOUCH

In this novel, residents of a Midwestern town cope with the onslaught of Covid-19 and the battles over race in America.

Grace McDonald is a therapist who has returned to her former residence of Kaw Valley. Years after fleeing to Alaska due to a tumultuous trial that saw her convicted and then exonerated in the death of her husband, Grace is running a grief group for those who have lost relatives to Covid-19. Through her practice, she meets John Martin, whose mother is a QAnon adherent, and Theo Murphy, a respiratory therapist who is troubled by difficulties at work. Grace’s best friend is Katrina, a Black woman from New Orleans, who challenges her pal’s assumptions about race. Katrina is also close to Grace’s daughter, Molly (“Over the years, Katrina had become Molly’s ‘matant’—her Creole auntie—as much as Grace’s friend”). News of the murder of George Floyd has swept the nation, making Katrina’s feelings about race boil over in a way that Grace desperately tries to understand. Also in town are Zed and Cherry, who become campaign volunteers for Donald Trump. Zed has already fallen down the QAnon rabbit hole, and as he and Cherry become more fervent, they plan a trip to Washington, D.C. As Grace repairs her friendship with Katrina, she and the other characters hold their ground as Covid-19 takes its toll on Kaw Valley. Kraus’ pandemic-era novel takes care to include characters who hold different viewpoints and manages to follow an accurate timeline of real-life events. Grace’s experience is multifaceted and well developed, and the story has chilling but necessary depictions of Covid-19 patients and their associated respiratory problems. But some chapters are too long and rambling, and the large cast of characters is not always well balanced. A great deal of ground is covered in this well-researched story, but a more streamlined narrative would have been more effective.

An ambitious, fearless, but uneven tale about disparate lives and common experiences during the pandemic.