The Diapause

This thoughtful novel from Forbes (McCurdle’s Arm) opens with adolescent Gabe and his parents fleeing their home in Peterborough, Canada, to shelter at the family lake cabin during the COVID outbreak. This idyllic and unsettled time at the lake is illustrated in evocative detail. Readers next find Gabe as an aimless adult, sleeping with a woman named Rhonda. When she enlists his help in stealing from her wealthy father, he rethinks the relationship. Next, Gabe is operating a drone at a cobalt mine in northern Canada, the fertile breadbasket of North America due to global warming. After that, Gabe is a 40-year-old living in an office tower in Toronto when he abruptly learns of his father’s death and receives a final letter. In this future, personal AI helpers have become ubiquitous, though his father’s letter remains unread. Lastly, Gabe is visiting his mother in a cognitive care facility in his hometown, where information technology mitigates but does not prevent her mental decline.