MELBOURNE: 263 Days in Lockdown

thoughts, images & headlines from two years of COVID in the world’s most locked down city.

Available now in paperback for delivery worldwide.

**As featured on the Melbourne City of Literature READING MELBOURNE book list**

Read it? Review it on Goodreads and help others find it!

About the Book

We all have different ways of finding meaning in chaotic times. Me? I write. So it was only natural that, when COVID hit Melbourne, I turned to my pen.

News outlets around the world reported on Melbourne’s strict and long-lasting COVID lockdown measures. People either praised our efforts to stop the spread, or mocked us as blind, dumb sheep. Regardless of their stance, though, it was impossible to ignore the fact that life in Melbourne had become extraordinarily difficult.

This book is a collection of my journal entries and photos throughout the first two years of the pandemic, along with news headlines from around the world, Melbourne’s lockdown guidelines, and case number statistics. Things that I thought might be interesting to look back on and show my son when (if) life returns to some semblance of normal. While my rants felt so personal when I wrote them, I looked back and realised that anyone in my position could have written about the frustration, exhaustion, loss of freedom and constant fear I felt.

Everyone has experienced this pandemic differently – this collection is nothing more than an account of my own thoughts and feelings during a very unprecedented time. A collection which helped me to process it a little. Maybe it will help you process some of it, too.

PRAISE FOR MELBOURNE: 263 Days in Lockdown

“Jess’s account of 263 days in Lockdown hit straight to the rawness we all felt as we navigated the pandemic. As a Melburnian, I related to so much of what Jess documented. It’s a fabulous compilation that tracks the progression of Covid-19 throughout the world via global headlines, data sources and political messages, however it’s Jess’s personal entries and photos that make this book unique. The pandemic is a chapter in history that we will always hold with a strange mix of fear and gratitude and Jess has captured it so effectively here. “
— KYLIE ORR, author of Someone Else’s Child
“What a wonderful read. 263 Days in Lockdown is an insightful, honest and funny read, which takes me back to every moment of experiencing Victoria’s challenging lockdown. As a fellow mother who raised a toddler during the COVID pandemic, I really related to this book and felt every challenge and emotion along the way. Jess Carey is a talented young writer and one to watch. This will be a great book to remember the challenges of the last couple of years which are communicated so honestly and factually. I look forward to sharing it with my son one day “
— LISA HOLMEN, writer, photographer, marketing whiz, and mum
“At times, it feels like it all happened just yesterday. You remind us not to take those little things in life for granted. The coffee dates, swim lessons, seeing friends and family, travel and the list goes on…”
— BONNY, Melburnian and new dad

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