Weather

 Weather by Jenny Offill (2020) 201 pages

Like Offill's Dept. of Speculation, this novel is written in a sort of vignette style—single paragraphs with lots of white space—that might at first seem disconnected, but as one absorbs them, they begin to tell the story. Lizzie is 40-ish, with a husband and small child and not enough money. She works in a library at a university in New York. Her mother requires time on the phone, which makes Lizzie feel bad about not giving enough time to her husband and son. Her brother, Henry, has a history of substance abuse, which caused Lizzie to quit grad school years ago. She finds herself again concerned with Henry as he marries and becomes a father, and we can feel how much it wears on her. Additionally, she works a second job for her former graduate advisor, Sylvia, who has a podcast about the climate. Sylvia seems to be getting more reclusive. Add to that a presidential election which makes the characters fear that fascism is around the corner. Lizzie is straining to help everyone, from the money she gives regularly to a beggar to running to help her brother care for his baby to trying to brainstorm with her husband where they would be safe in an increasingly frightening world. 

Offill's descriptions of people tell much with few words. The book is lyrical, symbolic, and kind of sad, while at the same time, oddly soothing.