How does a regular Sunday start? You mean, in the Before Times? I was travelling a great deal on a book tour, staying at hotels, trying to remember which city I was in. If I was at home, my husband and I would start the day slowly, reading the paper in the usual order: the arts coverage, the books coverage. I would often write on Sundays, and I like to cook. Before the pandemic, there was a different rhythm to it.
How have things changed? Well, if I didn’t look at my phone I’m not sure I’d know what day of the week it was; the days blur from one to the next. Weekdays have taken on this slower quality, so Sundays don’t feel particularly different. I receive more work emails on Sundays, and I send them as well. It’s as if we’re all limping along.
Have you learned anything new? My cooking skills have greatly improved, as has my interest in cooking. I’m inhabiting my home in a different way now – there’s something different about being at home with nowhere to go. I was so used to looking at the calendar: what’s next, what’s next? But for the time being, there is no next.
Are you enjoying the downtime? I’m starting to embrace it; to say, ‘I really am just going to sit here and stare out the window and not feel I have to be productive.’ There’s been a lot of productivity porn, everybody posting things they’ve accomplished. ‘I’m learning Italian.’ ‘I’ve perfected my frittata.’ It’s too easy to think that’s how it really is, and not just the parts of ourselves we’re showing to others. I have perfected my frittata though.
What were Sundays like growing up? I was raised in an observant Jewish home. Saturdays were the Sabbath and I wasn’t allowed to do anything: ride my bike, play the piano, see my friends. Sundays were more uplifting. My father would pick up delicious food: bagels, lox, whitefish – the kind of food I now only eat once a year.
Guilty Sunday pleasures? The best TV is on Sunday nights. What else? We bought an instapot. It’s revolutionised how we make meals.
Season 3 of Dani Shapiro’s Family Secrets podcast is out now (danishapiro.com) Inheritance, by Dani Shapiro, is published in the UK by Daunt Books
