The other day, I read the utterly brilliantly Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo and was struck by two things after digesting it in one, huge chunk of text.
One, how on earth did I miss this Booker winner from 2019, especially as I gobbled up the other, joint winner of the Booker that year, The Testaments by Margaret Atwood? Secondly, and more importantly than my literary oversight, was the fact that this so-called contemporary novel, with its ‘on point’ debates about feminism, gender and race, is, in fact, like anything else written before the pandemic, not contemporary at all and is now, bizarrely dated because it is ‘pre-Covid’.
For instance, with its blithe discussions of a character ‘popping over from the US’ for the night to catch her BFF’s opening night of her play at the National Theatre and the cognoscenti of the British theatrical scene huddling together to quaff the post-production prosecco, it is, indeed, from another period. As I became totally wrapped up in the multigenerational narrative, with its semi- stream of consciousness style, I began to think about how our 2021 is more than, to quote Burnage’s finest, Noel Gallagher, ‘half a world away’ from our pre-pandemic existence. For instance, before the advent of the coronavirus, who would have thought that a whole industry- cottage and commercial- would have sprung up around the making of face masks? My school’s ‘DHS Masks’ caused a stir and much envy in the Autumn Term, costing a grand £3 per item, but various designers have churned out haute couture masks, with Will.i.am creating a mask cum earphone/smartphone hybrid that costs more than $300. Ditto hand sanitisers: this time last year, there was a run on them in the shops, which meant that a bottle of Carex became a rarer commodity than the fabled ambergris. Now, in the spring/summer season of 2021, many fashion houses and cosmetics companies have a ‘designer’ sanitiser, some of which seem more expensive per squirt than a bottle of Tom Ford’s Black Orchid.
By the time you read this, the non-essential shops will be open- in my husband’s eyes, any shop that doesn’t sell food or golf gear is nonessential and he has not missed this period of enforced consumer abstinence at all- and pubs and restaurants will be open if they can operate outdoors. Salons and nail bars will be open, as will gyms, swimming pools and certain outdoor events. I will be partaking in many of these newlyestablished ‘freedoms’ and can almost taste the vanilla latte that my favourite coffee shop produces. Moreover, I can also envisage the dismayed look of my hairdresser as she sees the ‘pixie cut’ I have given myself with the help of a pair of hair clippers and some particularly strong peroxide.
I am also very much looking forward to 17 May, the date when cinemas are due to open, as no matter how much I love binge-watching series on Netflix, or Sky Premiere- other streaming services are available- nothing beats going to the cinema for me and I will be gladly parting with some of my pandemic savings to attend as many films as my local multiplex and the Gala Theatre in Durham can distribute. Most importantly, if the ‘Freedom Day’ of 21 June takes place as we hope, and social distancing is eased, the ability to mix freely with friends and family, and give them a bear hug just because I can, will be the very best of outcomes and one I will never take for granted again.