Chapter 5: Lisa — Summary, Analysis, and Key Takeaways
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Summary (Complete and Chronological)
The chapter opens on Day 13 in Toronto, Canada, with Lisa, the narrator, in an ordinary domestic moment. Her wife, Margot, is holding the New York Times Science section and brandishing it at Lisa with evident urgency. Lisa is used to Margot imploring her to read things, but this is the first time in fifteen years that Margot has led her to the Science section of anything — a small detail that signals how unusual this particular article must be.
Margot points to a report about an aggressive strain of flu that has affected tens of thousands of people across Scotland. The outbreak originated in Glasgow in early November, and has since spread to London, Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool, and Birmingham. The article reports that the strain appears to affect only men — no women have contracted it so far. The mortality rate is described as higher than typical flu, with over five thousand deaths already reported.
Lisa reads the article with growing disbelief. She remarks that over five thousand deaths is a lot for a flu, and that it has happened in only a couple of weeks. Margot confirms this decisively. Lisa then asks, with her brain reeling, whether the article really says it affects only men. Margot nods and says yes.
Lisa sits down next to her, processing the information. She finds the claim bizarre — she has never heard of anything like it. Margot agrees that neither has she. The chapter then reveals key context about the two women: Margot is a professor of Renaissance history who writes romance novels on the side, and Lisa works in virology at the University of Toronto. Lisa reflects that in her line of work, flu is of utmost importance, and she has never heard of a flu disease — or any infectious disease — that affects only men. She notes that such a disease likely hasn't been studied before, because it simply hasn't existed.
The chapter ends with Lisa typing an email to her assistant, Ashley, asking her to compile all research on the flu by 11 a.m. the next morning. She signs off with a casual