“Will you write letters with me, back and forth, for the duration of this virus?”

When Covid-19 isolated us all, C and R — old friends, middle-aged parents, and junior professors - turned to each other.

In 100 intimate, unflinching letters that crossed the country and the world, C and R found their way through gender transitions, racially-inflected family estrangement, chronic pain, dramatic career changes and activist campaigns. Often pained by each others’ choices, they nonetheless always returned to the page, to take each other’s hand. The resulting book is a deeply personal, fiercely political roller coaster that plunges from the lockdowns, into social ambivalence, and finally through the long, politically manufactured “end” of the pandemic.

These letters serve as both historical document and activist call, and above all, an inspiring testament to the power of friendship to give us the courage to change.

#pandemicmemoir #activism #personalgrowth