The pandemic is far from over, but after 18 months of living with Covid, the crisis requires some reflection. Whether you’re looking for an emotive personal account or a wide-ranging polemic on government failures, a pioneering work of modern fiction or a disturbingly relevant classic, here is the New Statesman’s guide to the best books about the pandemic.
Sometimes the stats aren’t enough to explain the damage inflicted by Covid-19. For those of us who have been fortunate enough to avoid being personally affected by the virus, the palliative care doctor Rachel Clarke’s book provides a moving account of life on Covid-19 wards. As she told the New Statesman: “I specialise in death: what it looks and sounds like, its visceral reality.” This is a heavy subject, but Clarke brings to life the admirable spirit of the NHS and its patients.
Little, Brown, 240pp, £16.99
Content from our partners
