Lockdown Lovers

Lockdown Lovers is a five-part love story set in lockdown conditions in two regions, Asia and Europe. In Part I, set in Hong Kong and China, forty-something academic John Ryan goes to the local 24/7 McDonalds every day to record events around him. We also get regular updates and reflections on the time of lockdown from Phoebe Ho, Kwok-ying and a pangolin. Phoebe is a twenty-something Hong Kong activist and recently elected local councilor, Kwok-ying is a government health official, and the pangolin is one of the mammals reported as being at the root of the virus. In Part II, John, Phoebe and Kwok-ying have all had to go into quarantine as they have picked up the virus. John and Phoebe grow closer in unique lockdown conditions. Part II ends on the night before their passionate encounter in Phoebe’s quarantine quarters. Part III is set in lockdown conditions in Ireland, Europe. John’s parents are in the vulnerable category and have been ordered to stay in their homes. John tells no one but his parents that he has returned. He delivers groceries and medicine to his parents’ porch but the pain is too much when he sees them staring at him from twenty feet away behind the porch door. In Part IV, John has come back to Hong Kong from Ireland and is living on his own. Phoebe is caught up in events taking place in Hong Kong. Kwok-ying still sends in his witty comments about the Government. Part V takes place in Hong Kong and China two years after the first outbreak. Each character has moved on, and the pangolin is flourishing. In this pandemic-ridden world, this novel reminds us how human contact will never cease to be mankind’s saving grace through the darkest times.