This Devastating Fever

Alice had not expected to spend the first twenty years of the twenty-first century writing about Leonard Woolf, but she found herself trapped with the ghosts of writers past when she picked up an unfinished project. This is Sophie Cunninghams most important book to date, a dazzlingly original novel about living through a time that feels like the end of days and how we can find comfort and answers in the past.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 320 pages
Publication date: 07 June 2023
Publisher: Ultimo Press

Sometimes, delving into the past is essential to gain insight into the present. This was certainly the case for Alice, who found herself unexpectedly writing about Leonard Woolf for the first twenty years of the twenty-first century. As she stood on Morell Bridge, watching fireworks burst from the rooftops of Melbourne at the dawn of a new millennium, Alice had two thoughts: firstly, that the fireworks were better in Sydney, and secondly, whether the world's technology was about to collapse. Thankfully, the world's technology did not crash, but worse disasters were yet to come. Environmental collapse, the resurgence of fascism, wars, a sexual reckoning, and a plague were all on the horizon.

Feeling uncertain about what to do, Alice picked up an unfinished project and found herself trapped with the ghosts of writers past. What began as a novel about a member of the Bloomsbury set, a colonial administrator, publisher, and husband of one of the most famous English writers of the twentieth century, transformed into something entirely different.

Sophie Cunningham's novel is a complex, heartfelt, darkly funny, and deeply moving exploration of what it's like to live through a time that feels like the end of days. It offers comfort and answers in the past, providing a dazzlingly original perspective on how we can find solace and understanding in times of uncertainty.

Weight: 300g
Dimension: 129 x 198 x 36 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781761151491