No one likes to be reminded of slices from the past: bits and pieces that everyone reckoned with in their own ways, then collectively decided should be left in the dark. A tumultuous time six years ago was one of them, when on March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared a global pandemic. This period changed us all and took so much from our lives – freedom, community, life, health, and even loved ones.
Yet we rarely consider that the pandemic also left behind things that may stick with us until our very last days. Perhaps it is found in memories, feelings or images your mind never forgot, as we were all told to put our masks up and shut our businesses down. What traces did the coronavirus year leave in your life?
Even now, when I wash my hands, I always make sure to scrub under my nails, because I heard a health podcast say back then that germs we don’t even know about hide there. I’m now a little more grateful for wide open spaces, filled with fresh air, and I’m still far too good at leaving my pajamas on all day.
With the recent passing of yet another year since COVID-19 first rocked our world – an anniversary undoubtedly placing in mind the mark it left on society and on our very souls – perhaps Cuesta College’s book of the year pick, “Sacrament,” has made its impression among students and faculty at the most fitting time.
Already known for her several award-winning novels, including “Mecca” and “Highwire Moon,” author, UC Riverside professor and California native Susan Straight published “Sacrament” in October 2025. Though first presenting as a book about the isolating experience of first-responders as they navigate the debilitating trenches of pandemic society, its pages hold far more depth beneath the cover summary.
Straight weaves a tale with an almost epic-reminiscent quality, with complex characters of varying generations, multiple side plots and poetic metaphors so rich and raw it tears the memory of its readers wide open. A literary time capsule, this narrative will undoubtedly strike close to home for all who happen upon it – perhaps especially so for those of us on the West Coast, who can resonate with Straight’s vivid imagery of the Southern California landscape.
The culture she captures is undoubtedly diverse, especially in its engagement with Indigenous and Hispanic populations, offering hints of long-standing languages and traditions that have helped shape our state for decades. Though a non-Spanish-speaking reader may struggle with the occasional blocks of conversation between characters, most would likely argue it is only a small inconvenience in the world of technology, with answers right at our fingertips.
As readers jump between the narratives of a group of female travel nurses, isolated from their families as they battle the COVID-19 virus daily, and of those woven into their lives – a daughter, a husband, a young CHP officer – they gain a multifaceted understanding (or perhaps a reminder) of how we all struggled to cope with the degradation of community and life itself.
The young teenager attempting to navigate online classes, or the animal control officer struggling to return to work as his body recovers from the virus. An overworked nurse caring for patients while wishing she had time to be a mother, or an elderly lady who can no longer leave her home up in the mountains.
Giving each of its characters a voice and its readers an opportunity to peer through the lens of their unique perspectives, “Sacrament” is a novel of stark awakening. Providing a deep, multifaceted study of how society fought and coped with the pandemic, it calls for reflection on experiences we all shared but would much sooner want to forget.
Yet Straight captures them in the darkest and lightest ways through strained relationships and the pain of loved ones lost, as well as the hesitant, unexpected hints of romance and the power of a community drawing together, even while they must remain six feet apart.
With this, “Sacrament” speaks to the mark left on all of us. It is one undeniably real and aged now by time – still raw like it was yesterday in some places, while others feel long-forgotten. Speaking to the deepest hopes and sufferings of humanity in a time when our world was turned inside out, Straight’s novel is one that begs to have a thousand essays written about it.
