Read out the storm

I heard a report on the radio that a third of people are reading more during the coronavirus crisis. I certainly fall into this category myself, and last night at 3am I stirred to find my wife was on her Kindle – although she blamed it on toothache. At the moment I’m reading Helen Taylor’s Why Women Read Fiction, and despite being the wrong sex I can identify with many of the traits she exposes, not least the escape to comfort and reassurance that a well-loved book provides – to the extent that many adult readers will return to their precious childhood collections.

It’s hard to buy into the idea of silver linings when so many people are losing their lives, and each of us in our own way has become more isolated; though the knowledge of cleaner air and empty skies, clear water and more wildlife, quieter days, fewer crimes, more walking, cycling and, yes, reading are all aspects that can help to sustain us. They say that there’s a long road ahead; at best we’ve reached the eye of the storm; if so it can’t be a bad thing to shelter in the lee of familiar tribulations and happy endings.