The premise of this was really interesting to me but unfortunately the resultant novel was a let down. Whilst I respect the idea, and hat offs to Margaret Atwood for bringing all the authors together, the book was a bit of a disjointed mish mash and I actually failed to finish it.

Thanks to a netgalley,   I was able to read this unusual, terrific,  collaborative novel,  written during lockdown of the pandemic by a whole cast of well known authors such as Celeste Ng, John Grisham, Tess Gerritsen, Erica Jong, Dave Eggers, Sylvia Day, Tommy Orange , Margaret Atwood to name just a few. 

 The story lends itself perfectly to the project: set in New York during the pandemic,  the tenants of a run down building gather each evening for fourteen days on the roof top, equipped with booze and other provisions, taking turns in telling each other stories, viewing each other suspiciously. . No one knows whether the stories are real or made up by the narrator. The chief protagonist is the super of the building, a young woman who finds notes left by her predecessor about the peculiarities of aĺl the tenants, inclusive imaginative names and apartment numbers. The book reminded me a little of a kinkier version of 1001 nights, it is great fun to read, not at all bleak even if some stories are on the darker side. 

The epilogue provides the names of the authors who has written which chapter.

On paper, this looked like a good idea but, somehow, the delivery lets it down. The premise is that the fourteen days of the title cover the worst days of the Covid pandemic in New York, when the residents of a building on the Lower East Side come together on the roof to bang pots and pans in support of health workers and tell each other stories.

Over thirty modern American writers were involved in this project which was organised by the Authors Guild of America and you couldn’t find better editors for a modern day Decameron or Canterbury Tales either.

The central character is the building Superintendent and she narrates the events and, allegedly, records the stories told by the different residents of the building. As in Chaucer’s stories, the residents comment on each other’s contributions and the discussion goes off at a tangent.

There are stories about ghosts, death and relationships and much, much more. Some are well developed and others more fragmentary but what is missing in them is a distinctive voice or, perhaps, that voice is hard to find because it comes from a character who has been quickly introduced. It’s hard to say exactly what the problem is but the individual stories don’t stand out and the structure becomes almost repetitive towards the end.

At the same time, is only fair to say that the book does strikingly recall the strange habits and practices of the pandemic while the gradual unravelling of the different residents is interesting, possibly more interesting than some of the stories.

Students of modern American writing will also enjoy linking the stories to the writers but, somehow, the project got too big and too important, and lost something along the way.

This is an interesting approach to novel writing and one that (mostly) works pretty well. As the title tells us, the novel takes place over the course of 14 days. At the beginning of COVID lockdowns in New York, a group of people are living in a run-down apartment building. The landlord cannot be reached. The super is new and stressed as her father, a Romanian immigrant, has had to go into a nursing home due to his dementia and she cannot get in touch with anyone there. Her mother is long gone. Upon her arrival, she is dismayed to find that the first floor apartment which comes with the job is actually a dark and depressing basement apartment. The previous super has left a cupboard full of booze and a 'bible,' which is a binder with information about the tenants, along with their nicknames. She takes full advantage of both. One day she discovers the roof and starts to go up there every evening to get some fresh air. Soon, some of the other tenants start to go up there, too, even though they're not supposed to and the door is usually locked--at least at first. Everyone stays socially distanced and in their own world, clapping and banging pots with others in the city to salute the care workers, and gathering up their things and going back inside when the bells of St Patrick's Cathedral chime each night. Then one of them, Eurovision, suggests that to pass the time they each tell a story. They begin to do exactly that and continue for 14 days. 3 1/2 stars

The twist in this book is that each character is written by a different author and readers don't know which author wrote which character until and unless they consult the list in the back of the book. The stories each character tells are, unsurprisingly, very different in style and subject. As each person tells their story and the tenants begin to interact with one another more and in different ways, their attitudes towards one another change and they begin to relate to each other differently.

For the most part, I enjoyed the book. I thought it was a clever way to create a novel. The fact that the 36 US and Canadian authors come from widely different backgrounds and write in very different genres means that the book is varied and wide ranging in scope, even as the main setting is so contained--the roof isn't that big. I also like the fact that it's a charitable project with the proceeds going to The Author's Guild--a group that supports writers. Where it fell down for me was at the end. Honestly, I thought the ending was really disappointing and even a bit annoying. It seemed pretty unoriginal. That said, the rest of the book was a good, if not spectacular, read. I'm glad I read it, even if I wish the ending had been done better.

Fourteen Days has an interesting premise - a collaborative novel isn't something you come across too often! It reads more like a collection of short stories which all exist within one universe. While the individual stories are varied and well-told, there didn't seem to be any central thread driving the plot forwards which is something I really missed from the narrative.

I appreciated the chance to discover new authors through this unique literary endeavour and if you are a fan of thought-provoking short story collections then this might be for you, it just wasn't really for me!

Since the coronavirus pandemic of 2020 lots of novelists are writing their pandemic novel and I read a number of very successful ones. In this book 36.American or Canadian authors, some of which some of whom are extremely well known have contributed chapters The book is edited by Margaret Attwood, who is one of my favourite orders. Because of this, I quickly requested it when I saw it was available on NetGalley, UK
The basic premise of the novel was that during the pandemic of March 2020. All the people living in a block of flats were confined to their flats as boredom an confinement set in the gradually start to meet on the roof of the building in their socially isolated groups, one by one, they start to tell us their stories . The buildings manager at scissor sort of central point to tell stories themselves and introduce you a little bit to the people who are telling the stories.

Ultimately,, whilst I felt that the collaboration was a worthwhile undertaking. I didn’t feel that the novel was very successful. It felt bitty and lacked cohesion. The difference in tone and content of the individual stories was difficult to overlook some of the stories I didn’t enjoy others were not so successful.

I did try and play a little detective game with myself, trying to work out who wish and which chapter as this was not made clear few, I did manage to work out, but the majority was unsure about

I’m sure this novel will sell anything with Margaret Atwood’s name on or make it a popular choice. However, I personally wouldn’t recommend it.

Novel is published in the UK on the 6th of February 2024 by random house UK, vintage.

This review will appear in NetGalley, UK, Goodreads, and my book blog bionicsarasbooks.wordpress.com And Amazon, UK, after the book is published

What a book! Anything with Margaret Atwood’s name on it has my vote, but I usually avoid collaborative texts, feeling ‘less is more’. But this one blew my socks off.
36 Canadian and American writers assume the identity of a persona resident in an apartment block in New York during lockdown.
The new ‘Super’ of the building finds the key to the roof door and the roof becomes her ‘place’.
From this vantage point, she has stupendous views over the city and we get a vivid sense of the impact of lockdown.
Gradually the residents join her (socially distanced, of course), and the stories they want and need to share are told over 14 days.
And so, we are transported from this rooftop into these captivating experiences; funny, wise, brutal, beautiful worlds. Stories are hosted by the self-appointed emcee, Eurovision. And the numbers keep growing. So many voices, so many lives.
And the tragedy of Covid is eventually revealed in for me, a completely unexpected ending.
Who contributed what?
You have to wait, to find out.
Astonishing and brilliant.
Thank you @netgalley and @vintage books for my ARC. What a gift!

This isn't your usual book is short stories where you can dip in and out, it reads more like a novel, a well written thought out clever novel at that.
The book centres around the residents of a apartment block during the Covid pandemic in New York, each night the residents met on the roof to clap for carers then at a social distance to share stories about life. Each resident's story is unique and written by one of the writers from the author list( you are not told who has written them to the end) these tales are woven into the main narrative seamlessly there is some great editing going in this book. Some of stories are better than others as is the case with all short story collections but in the whole they are all well written and have a deeper message, they all have a reflective tone which meets the time of which it's sets perfect. I liked how the framing parts really took the time to explore what it was like during the early days of the pandemic and then how the stories reflected all the various reactions and feelings had about that time, it really was a book that made you ponder and self reflect. This was not what I was expecting at all but I really enjoyed the concept and the plot. I thought not knowing who had written which bits till the end added a extra layer to the prose and allowed me to read work by authors I would have have probably skipped over if the collection was a traditional short story collection. There is great twist that matches the full reflective mood of the book that stays with you. A very smart idea that delivers, by using such a different group of writers to collaborate you get a much deeper sense of understanding of diverse life though sex, race, class and age. A collaborative novel more than a short story collection is the best way to round it up, it works which is surprising when you consider the amount of authors involved and their various styles and genres and while it was was obvious while reading who wrote what when you discover who has written what you can recognise writers you have read before, my favourite story was The Party which was written by Emma Donoghue.

There is much to admire in 'Fourteen Days' with some of the individual stories told being delicate, delightful gems. However overall it is a rather disjointed reading experience, Some of the characters are perfectly depicted and leap from the pages, but somehow the variation in the quality of the writing detracts from the coherence of the whole. Special thank you to Random House UK, Vintage and NetGalley for a no obligation advance review copy.

DNF at 30%. I requested this arc because it looked fun and different. The writing of this flows really well considering it's written by many different authors and I did like the ideas behind it. However, I'm just not connecting to it at all, It's a pleasant read in that a lot of it so far has been reading anecdotes experienced by the people quarantining but overall not something I'd recommend.

As with any regular short story anthology, this collection of closely linked stories has its stronger stories and its weaker ones. Or perhaps it all comes down to a question of preference. Because every story in this collection is written by a renowned author. Though as readers, we do not find out which story is written by which writer until the very end...

It is set in a time most of us will remember all too well. One week after the lockdown is imposed in Manhattan, a group of inhabitants from an apartment building are spending socially distanced time outdoors on the roof. As they begin telling their own stories, gradually the numbers of people showing up for these storytelling sessions expands.

In this most unexpected way people get to know each other better. And they do it in a span of time that is far shorter than the period that each of them have been living there! It is interesting to think that social distancing could make people grow closer to each other...

This is a fascinating concept and I liked the majority of the stories. They function as slice of life tales and most readers will find something here to enjoy. The fact that we don't initially know which writer is writing the story that we are reading definitely provides an added dimension of fun, and also encourages people to read outside their comfort zone. A good idea, well-executed, with the inevitable divergence in preference for individual readers.

A mixed bag. Fourteen stories by fourteen different authors, set over fourteen days. The stories are each told by a different tenant of a New York tenement block plus their superintendent. Only at the end of the book do you find out who wrote each chapter. Set during Covid, they all meet on the rooftop patio (socially-distanced, of course)., to clap for carers and enjoy a natter. My favourite chapter was Day Thirteen, which really got everyone talking. Some of the others weren’t to my taste.

What a roster of authors! And what a fascinating dive into a group of people on a rooftop; while the pandemic rages around them, the story is of their stories, and in listening to one another. At times odd, at times magical - just as it would be in real life.

I was really looking forward to this collaboration, but unfortunately was disappointed. It was very disjointed and the chapters didn't really gel. I know they weren't necessarily supposed to as they tell the story of different people in the tenement, but it was too jarring. Sorry!

Sorry to say but not a book I enjoyed. I felt that a lot of the stories were lacking in depth. It seemed as if the different authors did not rally spend much time or thought to their articles.

The book sounded promising but felt let down by it.

Description:
Written by over 30 different writers including Margaret Atwood, John Grisham, R. L. Stine, and Dave Eggers, Fourteen Days follows a group of people living in an apartment block in New York during the coronavirus pandemic. They gather every evening for fourteen days to tell their stories and seek solace in each others' company. The introduction notes that this ISN'T a classic frame narrative like The Decameron or The Canterbury Tales, but I'm really not sure what distinction they're making, because as far as I can tell it absolutely is.

Liked:
Some of the short stories within this piece are nice, and encouraged me to try out writers I hadn't heard of before (the specific credits are at the end of the book, which I thought was a nice touch; you can play a kind of guessing game with it). The standout pieces, for me, came from Alice Randall, Hampton Sides, Dave Eggers and Caroline Randall Williams.

Disliked:
The framing narrative was not great. I was betting that the lesbian protagonist was being written by a man within the first chapter. The majority of the stories were par or subpar - with some of the biggest writers seemingly haven given the project the least effort. Loved this as a concept but the execution was fairly lacking, unfortunately.

Wouldn’t recommend, overall, but it has given me some new authors to check out.

I love the idea of this and was excited by all the authors. involved. However, I didn't enjoy if nearly as much as I was hoping to.

It started to pick up at the end with the last 15% being a lot more engaging than the first 85%. The stories being told were supposed to be have been spoken aloud to the group on a rooftop of an apartment building however, some of them didn't have the feel of spoken word or verbal storytelling and didn't feel natural.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this eARC of 'Fourteen Days'

'Fourteen Days' is a novel written by multiple well known authors and takes place over.. you guessed it... fourteen days. Each chapter is written by different authors and honestly, you don't notice other authors wrote them most of the time except for the odd chapter where you notice a disjoint and it kinda ruins the reading experience and that's why I have to give it a 3.

Fourteen Days by Margaret Atwood and Douglas Preston

A dazzling array of US and Canadian authors collaborate on a collection of short stories as told by the residents of a New York apartment building in the Covid-19 lockdown during their nightly visits to the rooftop.

A brilliant concept which is executed very impressively. A wide range of stories, some a bit gritty/gruesome for my taste but most are very entertaining. I enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

3.5 rounded up

Thirty six American/Canadian authors from a variety of literary backgrounds, collaborate to tell the stories of a group of New Yorkers who are unable to escape the city during the Covid pandemic, unlike affluent city dwellers. It’s March 31, Day One, the first day of lockdown and the story is told over the next 14 days. The characters are tenants of the grandly named Fernsby Arms, a misleading name indeed, for a rundown block, which has thus far avoided gentrification. The new super of the less than salubrious building holds the whole thing together, I love her ironic tone, as life has dealt her many lemons, and yet she is still an upstanding, tough, strong woman. In amongst the detritus left by the previous super, she finds “The Fernsby Bible”, a handmade book of observations of tenants, who glory in appropriate nicknames, such as Vinegar, Eurovision, Florida, and Hello Kitty. She’s also left a little bit of “magic“ “, a key to the rooftop terrace, which affords spectacular views way beyond the price of the rent. One by one, the tenants drift up here, find a place to sit, socially distanced naturally, the price of admission is to tell a story, and so they do.

Yes, I’m sure some of you will be thinking not another pandemic novel, but whether we like it or not it is a cataclysmic and pivotal event that will go down in the history books as hugely important and significant. Many of us are still living with the aftermath, and let’s face it, the wretched thing is still here. Some of us are still trying to make process and make sense of it and this is where books like this come in. In many ways this is very unlike any other pandemic novels I’ve read. You do get references such as the gloomy statistics and tolling symbolically in the background are the bells of Saint Patrick. However, the main focus here is the stories that each of them tell. You get their backgrounds or things they’ve done (which are not necessarily true!) stories of the people in their lives, their reflections, the state of the country or the world, the injustice and it does become quite philosophical at times. It leads to them forming a daily rhythm and a release from the isolation of Covid rules. They make connections and become neighbourly, they recall the loss of loved ones and get reminders of their own mortality.

Although many of the stories are genuinely interesting, it does get a bit overwhelming by about 60%, the pace has slowed down and I find my attention has drifted. However, that brilliant, unpredictable ending nails the book for for me. I so don’t expect that, but it feels perfect and so raises it to a justifiable four stars.

It is exceptionally well written, it’s lively, it flows and it’s so well edited you actually wouldn’t know it’s a collaboration. I’m glad I don’t know who wrote what until the end as it may have swayed me in some ways. A big shout out to for the very clever use of literary references, especially Shakespeare and Boccaccio’s Decameron. How appropriate. It’s very different, it’s thoughtful, intelligent, and very acutely and well observed.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Random House, Vintage for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.