In rural New Hampshire, COVID-19 hits the Putney family with every weapon it has-death, addiction, abuse, grief and anxiety. When the Putney parents are among the first victims of the pandemic, their six adolescent children are left with a brand new house, a thriving construction business, and lots of challenges. The kids respond as only young people can-with hilarity, passion, sex, agility, imagination, and innovation. Their close ties to one another and their connections with nature give them unique strength and resilience.
Robert Putney, 14, tracks the COVID numbers every day and grapples with what such numbers mean. Ned, the oldest Putney son, and his wife Marjorie, struggle to knit the family together. Thomas, 16, escapes the doldrums of remote learning to discover a world in solar invention. Andrew and Blanche, the two older siblings, wrestle with self-indulgence and all the baggage that comes with a less-than-perfect family. Annie, the youngest member of the family, is shocked and stricken by loss after frightening loss.
The Putneys confront what death in a pandemic means. When the numbers are so great, how does anyone grieve for the lost ones? Are some people remembered more than others? Is there a crime in all the numbers? Who's to blame? Why do the numbers of drug overdoses increase at a rate similar to the growth of COVID deaths? Why do Americans seem so numb to these numbers, these deaths?
Blanche Putney, age 20, elbows her way to the front of this family saga. She's the protagonist who will survive or die. Her brothers and sister, in-laws and friends make The Putneys' Pandemic a family saga as intriguing as a medieval tapestry.