During the pandemic, an aging screenwriter is holed up in a coastal South Carolina town with his beloved second wife, Peaches. He's been binge-eating for a year and developed a notable rapport with the local fast-food chain Hippo King. He struggles to work on a ludicrous screenplay about a Nazi attempt to kidnap FDR and, naturally, an article for Etymology Today on English words of Carthaginian origin. He thinks he has Covid. His wife thinks he is...

In ordinary times, Tola lives in an apartment in Lagos, Nigeria, with her clever sister, Moji; her sporty brother, Dapo; and bossy Grandmommy. Tola is so happy! But news of a new virus—and a lockdown, too—sends Moji away in one direction and Dapo in another. Then, when Grandmommy can no longer go out to work, Tola goes instead. She works for the wealthy Diamond family and makes new friends among the household staff. But even the wealthy have problems—and...