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A review by writtenontheflyleaves
Delphi by Clare Pollard
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
[adding my insta reviews to Storygraph from now on bc if I lose em all I will cry]
The events of 2020-21 are a total soup in my mind, slopping around out of order without the usual milestones and routines to give them shape. Delphi brings some of that early phase of the pandemic back - washing groceries and daily briefings, Johnson going into the hospital and being unsure if he'd make it out.
It especially highlights the difficulties facing families in lockdown, and the perspective of mothers trying to look after children while navigating zoom work. Between the anxiety the protagonist experiences around her at-risk child and her (extremely justified) frustration at her husband's ignorance of how much she's doing for their family, it had me questioning even more than usual the institution of marriage and whether having kids is worth it 😵💫
I also think that Pollard explores privilege very interestingly. The lockdown depicted here is a thoroughly middle class one: zoom meetings, reassurances that they know they are "very lucky to have a garden". I don't know how much you're meant to "like" the protagonist, but her perspective feels like an artefact of something sharp, true and painful about the pandemic, the dark underbelly of the "lockdown life" presented in the media.
🔮 Read it if you liked No One Is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood or In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado as there are similarities in the storytelling and themes.
🚫 Avoid if you're sensitive to scenes of suicide, and perhaps also tread carefully if you were/are shielding during the pandemic. As I said, the protagonist's privilege is one of the interesting things about this novel, but you might find some of her pronouncements especially grating, for instance around masks.
The events of 2020-21 are a total soup in my mind, slopping around out of order without the usual milestones and routines to give them shape. Delphi brings some of that early phase of the pandemic back - washing groceries and daily briefings, Johnson going into the hospital and being unsure if he'd make it out.
It especially highlights the difficulties facing families in lockdown, and the perspective of mothers trying to look after children while navigating zoom work. Between the anxiety the protagonist experiences around her at-risk child and her (extremely justified) frustration at her husband's ignorance of how much she's doing for their family, it had me questioning even more than usual the institution of marriage and whether having kids is worth it 😵💫
I also think that Pollard explores privilege very interestingly. The lockdown depicted here is a thoroughly middle class one: zoom meetings, reassurances that they know they are "very lucky to have a garden". I don't know how much you're meant to "like" the protagonist, but her perspective feels like an artefact of something sharp, true and painful about the pandemic, the dark underbelly of the "lockdown life" presented in the media.
🔮 Read it if you liked No One Is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood or In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado as there are similarities in the storytelling and themes.
🚫 Avoid if you're sensitive to scenes of suicide, and perhaps also tread carefully if you were/are shielding during the pandemic. As I said, the protagonist's privilege is one of the interesting things about this novel, but you might find some of her pronouncements especially grating, for instance around masks.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide
Moderate: Death and Blood