A Man Booker Shortlister totally deserving of it’s praise.
A few years ago my mother told me that she used to enjoy getting all the books shortlisted for the Man Booker prize as gifts. I liked the idea of reading them all, so had, in the back of my head, that I should do just that the next opportunity I get. Then arrives NetGalley offering the 2017 International shortlist for review – fab!
Samantha Schweblin’s Fever Dream was presented with a snippet attached of the first handful of pages. I was hooked only paragraphs in and had to get my hands on it as soon as possible. Set in, and surrounding, a mirage like town in rural Argentina, the whole book is simply a conversation between Amanda and David as they try to figure out the seemingly innocent events of the days before. What led up to her being in a hospital bed, without her daughter, being asked questions by a young boy she had been told was dangerous?
Confusing and surreal, with a tinge of superstition, almost verging on paranormal, Schweblin increases the tension with each paragraph. With no chapters and no breaks, you won’t leave the pages, left in constant worry that you can’t see what’s wrong either, that you’ve missed the crucial detail too, the ‘most important thing’.
It’s a short novel, so I don’t want to explain too much and give away the plot. I only recommend you read it. It’s worrying, thought provoking, an eye opener into how aware we actually are. How much can we save our loved ones from when we can’t see the problem?
I received a free e-copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review