If there are any heavens: a memoir

Novelist Montemarano (The Senator's Children) presents a unique personal perspective from the height of the COVID pandemic in the United States, which he equates to a "1950s science fiction movie." Most of his family has contracted the virus, and he takes precautions to protect his parents from the illness, going so far as to remind them that "hugs could kill." Unfortunately, both of his parents eventually contract the virus, and his mother in particular becomes critically ill with pneumonia and requires hospitalization. Montemarano's memoir focuses on the 10 days in early 2021 that his mother spent in the hospital (and he spent in a nearby hotel); it's a window into his thinking during this gut-wrenching experience, including a snapshot of his internet search history on one particularly challenging day. This account is written in an unusual style that combines aspects of memoir, stream-of-consciousness narration, and poetry; it's a quick read with a firsthand perspective of only some of the difficulties COVID presented to people across the globe. VERDICT Montemarano's unique literary memoir offers an absorbing, visceral experience of the pandemic and should easily find a dedicated audience.--Gary Medina

A memoir about a son grieving his dying mother. Award-winning novelist and short story writer Montemarano chronicles his 79-year-old mother's last days as she struggled to overcome Covid-19. At the end of 2020, she developed a cough and fever and was quickly hospitalized when her oxygen levels dropped. On Jan. 6, 2021, after an urgent call from his sister, the author left his wife and son in Pennsylvania to drive to Elkhart, Indiana, where his parents and sister lived. Among the books he took with him was e.e. cummings' 100 Selected Poems, containing the poem that gives Montemarano his title: "if there are any heavens my mother will(all by herself)have / one." Montemarano took his Bible, as well: "O Lord heal me for my bones are troubled / I am weary with my moaning." Although he calls his heartbreaking memoir a "not-poem," he writes in spare verse to reveal in intimate detail his mother's deteriorating condition; conversations with his sister, who is a nurse, and his mother's doctors; visits to his father, debilitated by heart disease, diabetes, and obesity; and watching "the Steelers-Browns playoff game" simultaneously with his son. All around him swirled remarks by Covid deniers ("this is just made up by Bill Gates"), anti-maskers, and a president who insists that the virus "is going to disappear." While their mother remained in a "wait and see / precarious / critical" condition, he and his sister constantly researched treatments online (he includes his desperate search history) and talked to people about what they should do. They were, he writes, "twin sleuths looking for a magical / maybe miraculous / something." Their mother's good days made them hopeful; her setbacks, despondent. Finally, a physician gave them incontrovertibly bad news: Her lungs were destroyed. Wearing protective gear, Montemarano and his sister witnessed their mother's last hours, grateful that, unlike many others, she did not die alone. A poignant elegy for a beloved mother. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Novelist Montemarano (The Senator's Children) presents a unique personal perspective from the height of the COVID pandemic in the United States, which he equates to a "1950s science fiction movie." Most of his family has contracted the virus, and he takes precautions to protect his parents from the illness, going so far as to remind them that "hugs could kill." Unfortunately, both of his parents eventually contract the virus, and his mother in particular becomes critically ill with pneumonia and requires hospitalization. Montemarano's memoir focuses on the 10 days in early 2021 that his mother spent in the hospital (and he spent in a nearby hotel); it's a window into his thinking during this gut-wrenching experience, including a snapshot of his internet search history on one particularly challenging day. This account is written in an unusual style that combines aspects of memoir, stream-of-consciousness narration, and poetry; it's a quick read with a firsthand perspective of only some of the difficulties COVID presented to people across the globe. VERDICT Montemarano's unique literary memoir offers an absorbing, visceral experience of the pandemic and should easily find a dedicated audience.—Gary Medina

Novelist Montemarano (The Senator's Children) presents a unique personal perspective from the height of the COVID pandemic in the United States, which he equates to a "1950s science fiction movie." Most of his family has contracted the virus, and he takes precautions to protect his parents from the illness, going so far as to remind them that "hugs could kill." Unfortunately, both of his parents eventually contract the virus, and his mother in particular becomes critically ill with pneumonia and requires hospitalization. Montemarano's memoir focuses on the 10 days in early 2021 that his mother spent in the hospital (and he spent in a nearby hotel); it's a window into his thinking during this gut-wrenching experience, including a snapshot of his internet search history on one particularly challenging day. This account is written in an unusual style that combines aspects of memoir, stream-of-consciousness narration, and poetry; it's a quick read with a firsthand perspective of only some of the difficulties COVID presented to people across the globe. VERDICT Montemarano's unique literary memoir offers an absorbing, visceral experience of the pandemic and should easily find a dedicated audience.—Gary Medina