The Limits by Nell Freudenberger

 

Everything’s off-kilter during the early months of COVID. The children, especially, are not okay. Pia, the daughter of a French scientist who researches coral in the South Pacific, reluctantly agrees to be with her cardiologist Dad in New York. Dad, Stephen has his hands full with his expectant wife, Kate, who must be shielded from the pandemic. A school teacher, Kate struggles to bond with her stepdaughter while understanding the realities her teen students face. One of these is Athyna, afflicted by severe anxiety. The plot lines converge fluidly in a story that’s full of heart and a page-turner. A+