Sanity's Lockdown: 1 Recognition

Description

It is Spring 2020. The first UK Covid-19 Lockdown. Joe Smart emails his estranged brother Shaun. He tells him he has changed radically and in these unprecedented times he is hoping that they can be reconciled. He asks him to read two attachments he is sending which explain what has happened to him, what he wants now and why. He also needs to talk to Shaun about something he now knows about their Dad. He asks Shaun for a positive response. The first attachment opens and we learn that Joe, after losing his job, his marriage and becoming suicidal was quarantined in 2016, with his dog Gracie, for his own safety. His month-long 'personal lockdown' with the maverick therapist Gregory More and his partner Rowena at their recently closed mental health clinic results in a remarkable transformation. Undergoing intense therapy, long challenging conversations about culture, politics and change, some unusual snooker and periods of often painful self-reflection we experience Joe's journey to greater maturity, responsibility and hope - his new normal. This uplifting story of intergenerational friendship, love and commitment, written at a time of global crisis, explores the experiences, issues and dilemmas facing us all in these uncertain times. As 'crisis up-lit' goes it's also pretty funny!

Dr. John Evans was the founding director of the Population, Health, and Nutrition Department of the World Bank; the former chair of the Board of Directors of the Rockefeller Foundation from 1987 to 1995; the founding dean of the McMaster University Medical School; and the president of the University of Toronto from 1972 to 1978. He remains active in work supporting non-governmental organizations in developing countries.