Grygo is chief content officer for FTF.
Why would someone put together a reading list of the top books about pandemics?
That was my first question when I saw the suggestions from Catharine Riggs, a mystery/thriller writer who once had a career in financial services. Riggs has compiled a unique reading list of her “favorite pandemic/dystopian reads,” which are notable works about very tough times.
It is not the logical set of suggestions for perky, peppy escapism to help us forget our grim circumstances. And, while the list was intended for those with lots of downtime during the recent Spring holidays, her list has an evergreen quality to it, and some of us still have lots of downtime.
I reached out to Riggs and asked if we could publish her list and if I could ask a few questions about her suggestions. She agreed to let us publish the list and to answer my questions.
My first question was about why she would compile a list that focuses on the many impacts and aspects of a pandemic.
“About five years ago, I wrote a novel set during a pandemic,” Riggs says. “It’s the story of a young mother facing the apocalypse and the lengths she’ll go to save her child. It’s how I got my agent (Rebecca Scherer of the Jane Rotrosen Agency).”
Riggs adds that the prospect of a novel set amid a pandemic “didn’t sell at the time but six months ago, Rebecca suggested I revisit the book. I tossed out the second half and rewrote and forwarded the updated version to her just in time for the coronavirus to hit.”
While working on the rewrite, Riggs got the chance to revisit books she treasures.
“Many of the books on my Holiday Pandemic list were already precious to me, but while researching my novel, I reread many of my favorites. In particular, I spent a lot of time poring over John M. Barry’s The Great Influenza. It’s uncanny how closely my novel has mirrored reality. It definitely keeps me up at night,” Riggs says.
Catharine Riggs
The reason she embraced books that delve into the grim side of life is straightforward. “Good fiction has always helped me to make sense of the world. Literature can provide clarity, understanding and solace during the most difficult of times,” Riggs says.
Despite the lockdown, Riggs says that she has not been reading more than usual.
“Not necessarily. I typically have two novels going at any given time but I’m a very slow reader. I have been writing more. I’m finishing up final edits on my pandemic novel and I’ve begun a new stand-alone thriller,” Riggs says.
Her personal favorite from her list? “I would say it’s a tie between Pale Horse, Pale Rider and The Road. I’ve read both numerous times,” she says.
So, with the global pandemic and subsequent quarantine suddenly changing our lives in multiple ways, it might be a great time to stop and reacquaint ourselves to the joy of reading good literature. You may also gather great insight into our current condition from such an intriguing list.
Without further ado, here is the list with comments from Riggs:
- Pale Horse, Pale Rider by Katherine Anne Porter. “The Pulitzer Prize-winning author’s semi-autobiographical novella about a young reporter who contracts the 1918 Spanish flu.”
- The Road by Cormac McCarthy. “A Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about the apocalypse. Dark yet beautifully written, a heartrending story about a father’s love for his son.”
- Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel. “A finalist for the National Book Award, the novel follows the travails of a Shakespearean Theater Company in post-apocalyptic North America.”
- The Children of Men by P.D. James. “The crime writer’s dystopian novel features a world where all males have become infertile and no child will be born again.”
- Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. “Shortlisted for the Booker Prize, the Nobel Laureate’s dystopian science fiction novel about a doomed sub-race of human clones.”
- The Plague by Albert Camus. “The Nobel Laureate’s 1947 novel set in a North Algerian city at battle with the plague. Steeped in philosophical wisdom; an examination of the absurd.”
- The Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allan Poe. “Classic short story about a Prince who, in order to escape a plague, locks the gates to his abbey and parties with his friends while the commoners suffer outside.”
- The Great Influenza by John M. Barry. “2004 New York Times bestseller that examines the 1918 flu pandemic. This was my ‘go-to’ research book for a recently completed novel.”
- The World Without Us by Alan Weisman. “Another New York Times Delves into the minutia of how the world might change should humans disappear.”
Riggs, who has noted that her own pandemic novel is waiting in the wings, is the author of the twin thrillers, What She Gave Away and What She Never Said. She has worked as a business banker, adjunct college instructor, and a nonprofit executive.
More about her can be found at: https://www.catharineriggs.com/
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