Residents of an apartment block gather on the roof during lockdown and tell their tales. Each tale told by a different author

It was an interesting idea for a novel with different chapters written by different authors and I liked the way that each resident's story was told. I struggled after the first third of the book as it felt slightly repetitive. It was worth reading but you definitely have to be in the right frame of mind to be taken back to lockdowns and Covid.

Thank you to the authors. publisher and netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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It was my mistake picking this book, as I hadn't realised it was set during Covid which is something I don't want to read about in my leisure time! I'd expected something different entirely so this was a DNF for me.

This was such an interesting take on a sort of Covid memoir - the experiences of the residents of a block of flats in New York during lockdown. Each person's recollection and story is written as a separate chapter by a different author and the interplay of characters and their reasons for behaving the way they do becomes clearer as you read their chapter. I found it difficult to guess who had written each chapter, but that was part of the fun.

I really liked the idea for this book but, despite several goes, I just couldn’t get into it. I think the period where I could be interested in Covid stories was just really short; at first it was too soon and now it’s too far gone.

Loved the idea of this book and some of the authors featured have written books that I have really enjoyed! Fourteen Days started off well and I really loved some of the tenants stories, but as the book progressed it just didn’t gel together like I had hoped it would.

Some of the stories felt very repetitive and not as diverse as I would have hoped. Other stories really hit the mark and are still in my head now!

Overall I felt disappointed with this one as I had such high hopes for it.

Fourteen Days is a short story collection, themed around residents of a tower block telling nightly tales during the COVID lockdown. As with all collections, some hit, some miss, but on the whole, this was a good read. The ending felt rushed, and could have been developed, but I enjoyed this. Recommended for short story fans.

Forced to leave her old home on account of her father being unwell and unable to fulfill his work duties maintaining a residential tower, the narrator moves to the Fernsby Arms to be the new Superintendent/Facilities Manager there. It was a tough gig to get owing to her being a woman in a man’s world, albeit she lands the lowly paid position at a falling down block all the same. Having left abruptly, the previous Super leaves behind a Fernby Bible for his replacement. In here are brief accounts of the tenants, complete with nicknames and a few pointers, as well as some blank pages for the next person to continue their own observations.

Within weeks of starting the role, New York as well as much of the Western world go into lockdown following the onset of the Coronavirus Pandemic. People are not allowed out, and no one is allowed to enter this New York residential block without due cause. Where the previous Facilities Manager did not have much of a relationship with the tenants, he certainly had his own opinions based on his observations of their comings and goings. No apartment was safe from his gaze and each apartment occupant was detailed in the Bible with small facts to accompany the nicknames he had chosen for everyone. As the first week of lockdown gets underway, more and more of the tenants find themselves on the forbidden roof occupying their own squares and enjoying a semblance of fresh air. Suddenly finding themselves thrown together, a group of strangers have the opportunity to become more neighborly as they share time and stories with each other.

I wanted to love this book and it was probably the most anticipated book on my reading list from the moment I heard about it until I got to the halfway point. The first half was a casual pace and a rude awakening to getting to know everyone by their nicknames as given by the last maintenance worker. It was fresh, funny, enlightening, illuminating, nostalgic. It tickled so many senses, memories, and emotions; especially as it delves into a shared recent history that the whole world can relate to. However, the joy and wonder, as well as the issue, with a project like this is that it brings together so many great writers that are both wonderful and unique when it comes to what they do. They have their own styles and voices, and I didn’t feel that they lent their voices to one specific character.

As strangers, the neighbors bickered and dropped to each other’s levels so despite their differences in age, culture, and personality, they were joined in spirit and class. For whatever reason, they all lived in this rundown building. However, over time, as more writers got involved, the language and pace of the novel changed. It got slower, heavier, less humorous in the telling of the background stories, and instead became more abstract, more confusing, and strange. The affinity I shared with the characters started to wane fast and it no longer felt like I had been with these people for a few days, a week. They became too familiar, too quickly, and I guess in some ways, this was the point, looking at humanity in the face of a crisis. In the end, my reasons for continuing to read was to experience this novel idea, and to try to work out which character had which writer’s overall voice.

The book is suited to readers that like to experience new ideas and concepts, readers of highly commercialized authors, curious readers who are on a mission to solve something. It will appeal to readers who enjoy reading about other people’s lives and history, and like a bit of drama. I didn’t love the book, but I didn’t dislike the book either. I was intrigued by it and compelled to keep reading. Overall, I rate the book 3 out of 5 stars. The writing was exquisite, just maybe not always suited in the same company. The stories within stories were varied, but they differed vastly in standard. That said, there is something in this book for so many types of reader. It commands an audience with everyone and has maybe cast its net too wide making it an average reading experience for me personally.

I had high hopes seeing the likes of Atwood as part of the author list for this book and wasn't disappointed, whilst some stories within certainly weren't so strong or to my taste, the majority were and I loved the fact despite the book ultimately being an anthology that whilst each story stood alone, they all have a running theme of the early days of the covid pandemic with the setting being a group of New York tenants in an apartment block and ultimately all interlink to the other in the notion each tale links to a tenant. It's the type of book that is perfect for your daily commute in that you can deep in and out and not land up too confused or lost when picking it up again.

Thank you netgalley and Random House, Vintage for the ARC.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

I was intrigued by the concept of this book - how exactly would 40+ writers collaborating on a single story work? And it turns out that, because this book is episodic in nature, it just about works. You can see where the joins are in the narrative, but in some ways it doesn't matter because the stories are so interesting. Some characters are much more developed than others, but the concept of neighbours coming together during a Covid lockdown is a solid one, and the ensemble works. I did see the twist at the end coming, but that didn't make it any less poignant.

I loved the premise of this book - so many acclaimed authors collaborating, but at the end of the day it was still a series of short stories; some I liked better than others.
Unlike other reviewers, for me the best bit was the framework that the short stories were hung from telling of a group of people isolating from Covid in the apartment block, communing (six feet apart) on the buildings rooftop on an evening to tell their stories.

If you think about it, it was quite an achievement to get so many great authors to contribute to this project. I have been tryin gto avoid stories based during this time bvecause we all lived it, and it feels a little too soon to relive history. But having said that, I enjoyed the stories from the people in this building. I will say however some of the writing was imbalanced and was stronger in places. However overall I really enjoyed it.

I read 2/3 of this book and just could not finish it. I found the writing to be lazy and didn’t connect with the characters. There isn’t any direction to the story. It seems to be written as a slice of life and takes place during Covid times in NYC in an apartment building.

I’m afraid my hopes were dashed.
Two very well established authors working together on this book? Oh yes please (I thought)

The blurb sounded better than the book!

I was expecting different tenants to join bit by bit conversations and get to know each other, some fun, some gossip. Nice little stories.

No, it was very disjointed and didn’t marry up well.
It was more like anecdotes which weren’t even seamlessly put together.

I know I’m harsh with my one star but I expected more from these two strong authors.

I liked the idea of this, a group effort by the Authors Guild, a modern Decameron.
Sadly I DNFed it at 34%.

Looking forward to stories in distinctive, different voices, the stories felt more like anecdotes that flowed on too seamlessly. The nicknames created an unnecessary distance to the characters. The Covid backdrop is jarring to me with all its updates on numbers of death that were relevant at the time.

I couldn't get into this book, I didn't enjoy the 1st person narrative where it feels, like they're talking to you. And when I skipped ahead it's written in this one voice telling you other people's stories. I prefer to read the action unfold. The first story read like a report and didn't grip me.
It's a shame because I loved the idea of the story with lots of writers tales weaved together. I thought it'd be in the viewpoint of different characters and it just isn't for me

Thank you for allowing me to review this book, unfortunately it didn't really live up to my expectations. I thought it would be interesting to read these stories by the different authors, however I found it difficult to follow. Set in USA, with constant updates of the numbers with Covid, deaths etc seemed just extra filler. The characters had strange nicknames and I wasn't really clear how the narrator knew who was who. I'm afraid that I skipped some parts that were particularly slow going. When I read the final pages then it all, made more sense.

I had super high hopes for this after seeing the author list, but unfortunately it just fell flat for me. There were too many characters referred by nicknames, instead of their actual names, making it difficult to keep up with who was who. It just felt a bit haphazard and messy. The ending felt a little rushed to try and make sense of what was going on and didn't have the impact I thought it was. Slightly disappointing.

Fourteen Days is an impressive achievement. It is also unlike any book I have ever read, it has been a few hours since I have finished reading it and I have no room in my head for anything else. The note from the authors describes it best

"...the Italian word 'novella' to describe a story that was not the reworking of a familiar tale, myth or Biblical parable, but something new, fresh, savage, amusing and surprising.

Fourteen Days meets that definition. It is a collaborative novel that is startling and original - you might even call it a literary event."

It is written by thirty-six American and Canadian authors from all different backgrounds and genres but somehow it managed to flow effortlessly. There were some stories I enjoyed more than others but they all belonged.

"Above all, Fourteen Days is a celebration of the power of stories."

I couldn't agree with this more, whatever you are looking for in a story I would argue you can find it in this book.

Fourteen Days is about the occupants of a'decaying' New York building trapped by the Covid-19 pandemic. The primary narrator is the Super of the building who finds herself in possession of a 'bible' left behind by the previous Super. When the other residens of the building start to join her every night on the roof this is when we begin to get to know them all properly.

"It was packed with stories and anecdotes, asides and riddles, factoids and flatulences, and quips.He had given everyone a nickname. They were funny and cryptic at the same time."

The Super is a woman who took on the job because she was desperate for money and to escape from the guilt she felt after having to put her beloved father in a care home due to his advancing dementia. Shortly after taking the job the pandemic hit and she hasn't been able to contact the sub-standard care facility since.Her father was also a Super and she used to come along with him on his jobs when he was younger.

I felt Fourteen Days was incredible at capturing the full range of emotions we all experienced during the course of the pandemics and the lockdown measures. In fact, one of the reasons I found this book to be so hard hitting is because of this very thing.

"Everything happened so quickly. One day the coronavirus was something going on in Wu-who-the-hell-knows-where-han, and the next thing you know, we're in a global pandemic right here in the US of A."

Some parts of the book were harder to read than others, the parts that dealt directly with the traumatic process of a loved one's death during the pandemic, were especially difficult to read.

"This damn coronavirus wasn't just stripping away our ability to be together in life but also to be together at the moment of death, to say our goodbyes.A terrible thought passed through my mind before I could stamp it out: a wish that my father had died before this pandemic hit at all."

Fourteen Days is a rich and colourful novel, one which has introduced me to a whole new range of authors, authors I may never have picked up without this extraordinary book.

If you’re still not quite sure if you’re ready for pandemic fiction, this could be the book which changes your mind. A collaborative work created by thirty-six authors including Margaret Atwood, Dave Eggers, John Grisham, R. L. Stein, Emma Donoghue and Celeste Ng, Fourteen Days is effectively a connected anthology of short stories, all told on the rooftop of a dilapidated apartment block in Manhattan during the spring of 2020, where the inhabitants – left behind by their more affluent neighbours yet equally desperate for air and space – have broken onto the roof and now meet every evening to share stories. Socially distanced, of course. Our guide to this world is 1A, the building’s new superintendent, who had only just arrived in the block before lockdown hit: she has taken possession of the previous super’s apartment which contained a mysterious guide to the building’s inhabitants, with clues to their personalities and backstories – so when they start sharing tales on the rooftop, 1A is uniquely aware of any falsehoods being told beneath the city’s skies and begins piecing together the truth. Each of the tales told by the apartments’ inhabitants is short, and (as you would expect from such a varied cast of authors) is completely different in tone - so if you don’t enjoy one, another narrator will be along in a few moments. It is very like those early days of lockdown: you truly are trapped on a rooftop alongside the building’s residents, with no entertainment other than the story being told at that moment. Each author’s identity is concealed and only accessible via a list at the end of the book, so you can choose if you want to discover who is behind which of the tales: making this a great way to discover the work of new authors as well as read pieces by more familiar voices. Proceeds from this book go to The Author's Guild, an American organisation which supports writers of all kinds, at all stages of their careers: the thirty-six authors are all members and part of the advance for the book went to help support writers during the pandemic. This book would be the perfect accompaniment to a week-long holiday or other retreat from the world – but perhaps during a lockdown you’ve chosen for yourself, rather than one mandated by the government.

Featured in the February issue of Cambridge Edition Magazine – digital edition linked below