Fever Dream

By Samanta Schweblin and Megan McDowell

SHORTLISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER INTERNATIONAL PRIZE 2017

Tightly wound and full of dread, Fever Dream is a chilling tale of maternal love and environmental catastrophe, from an Argentinian literary star

'The book I wish I had written' Lisa Taddeo, author of Three Women and Animal

A young woman named Amanda lies dying in a remote Argentinian hospital. A boy named David sits beside her.

She's not his mother. He's not her child.

At David's ever more insistent prompting, Amanda recounts a series of events from the apparently recent past, a conversation that opens a chest of horrors. Together, they tell a haunting story of broken souls, toxins, and the power and desperation of family.

A chilling tale of maternal anxiety and ecological menace, Fever Dream is a modern classic. Samanta Schweblin's unforgettable debut is a prescient warning about our manipulation of the natural world, and an unforgettable exercise in literary suspense.

'A gloriously creepy fable' Guardian, 'Best Fiction of 2017'

• Language: English
• Publisher: Oneworld Publications
• Release date: Mar 2, 2017
• ISBN: 9781786070913

Samanta Schweblin

Samanta Schweblin is the author of three story collections and two novels, which have won numerous awards, including the prestigious Juan Rulfo Story Prize, and been translated into twenty languages. Her debut novel Fever Dream was shortlisted for the Man Booker International Prize 2017, and her short-story collection Seven Empty Houses won the National Book Award for Translated Literature 2022. Originally from Buenos Aires, she lives in Berlin.

Reviews for Fever Dream

[markm2315 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This novel is translated from the Spanish. It's only about 24,000 words. It seems like an anxiety dream, and although the underlying fear is palpable and various plot possibilities are clear, ultimately we cannot be sure of hardly anything. It was both very difficult to put this down and horrifying to continue reading it.

[niaomiya · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I read this weird and gripping novella in one sitting. From the beginning -- when I couldn't figure out what in the world was happening, to the end -- when the constant dread in the pit of my stomach grew to a crescendo, I was absolutely riveted.The book starts with Amanda and David talking. We know that Amanda is an adult and David is a child, but we don't know where they are or what strange circumstances they are in. Gradually, as the book progresses and we learn more about both the present situation and what got them to where they are, we know that something bad is going to happen. Author Samanta Schweblin does a remarkable job of creating that feeling of dread in the reader and never letting it go away. I was not able to relax for even one moment through the entire book; I kept dreading what was coming, at the same time that I was anticipating it.I can't even categorize the genre of this book, but it needs no categorization to leave the reader entertained and spooked at the same time.

[allison_s-802575 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A really strange read but still tapping at the edges of my mind a day after I've finished it so....

I'll do a re-read (it's short...only around 180 pages, with smaller formatting) and see if I can make sense of that ending???

[iudita_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

What an apt title for this book. When you open the book you are dropped right into the story with no preamble and you are swept through this claustrophobic, puzzling, creepy experience until the end where you are pulled abruptly out of the story with your eyes glazed over, having no idea what happened. And it is marvelous! It definitely needs to be re-read, probably more than once. I highly recommend reading this slim little novel in one sitting. Putting it down will break the spell.

[gbill_7 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Such a spooky little story, and creatively told. A dying woman carries on a dialogue with a boy sifting through the recent past, trying to figure out the moment of pivotal moments in time. She tells him of conversations she had with his mother about eerie events, both with him and with her own daughter. The elusiveness of truth and the horror of possible harm to children create a spellbinding narrative, with ecological overtones. It’s creative, well-written, and worth checking out.

[nx74defiant · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

An interesting book. Amanda is telling her story to David. Is David a boy, a ghost a product of her imagination? It is not clear what is real.

[rmarcin-630843 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Creepy story of a young woman, Amanda, and her daughter, Nina, who are vacationing. They meet Carla, and her son, David. Amanda is telling her story to David, while she is in a delirious state. Sad story about environmental poisoning and a parent's love. Super quick read.

[jinjer-641812 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Hmm...I never felt the tension or suspense others felt. I was actually kind of bored with it and just wanted to hurry and get to the end. The two stars are for the creative structure.

[othemts · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This weird and creepy horror novella set in a resort town in Argentina.  It's narrated in a conversation between Amanda, the novel's protagonist who slowly uncovers dark secrets from a boy named David. The book doubles as an environmental fable as the children of the town, starting with David, are poisoned by a toxin that spreads through the community, including Amanda and her daughter Nina.  The sparse novel serves as an attempt to unravel the source of the problem.

[bdgamer-669415 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It really does read like a fever dream. The story is told from a very unconventional perspective, but it starts making sense once the central conceit is revealed. And what a revelation it is.

It's a quick read and a riveting story. Saying more will only spoil it for you, so I won't say anymore. Go enjoy it right now.

[Nabila Shaikh · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Diving in, I wasn't aware that the novella was inspired by the environmental problems in Argentina. Although, I did appreciate the horror aspect arising from the effects of using pesticides, a little like the short story by Han Kang, The fruit of my woman (which I loved) I didn't find the ending gratifying.
Perhaps, stories like these with vague endings are just not my cup of tea (I felt the same way about The memory police's ending) but I felt like the payoff was small.
I did like the pacing of the story and it was engaging (I read it in one sitting) but I did not feel the restlessness and the thrill that most of the reviewers felt.
I will definitely pick up the author's other books without hesitation though.

[Maris Põldsaar · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Fever Dream is such an eerie and suspenseful little book that I enjoyed, but did not find captivating. It feels both paranormal and hallucinatory. My main problem was that it's constantly building up towards a big finale that just dwindles into a small, unsatisfying ending.

[thorold_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Amanda and her young daughter Nina are spending a summer holiday in a village in the country (the old-fashioned sort of holiday where dad comes out from the city at the weekends). Amanda is a nervous mother, constantly aware of the length of the invisible cord attaching her to her toddler — the "rescue distance" of the Spanish title. And she's all the more frightened when her neighbour, Clara, tells her a strange tale about how a local traditional healer saved the life — but apparently not the soul — of her son David. Despite herself, Amanda has come to believe that there is something very evil, in a horror-film kind of way, going on in the village, involving children with strange deformities, and the unexplained deaths of farm animals. As David patiently interviews her in her hospital bed after she falls ill herself, we start to realise that there is a horrifyingly simple, and quite rational explanation for all this. He keeps trying to steer Amanda towards seeing it, but she can't help veering back to the irrational. Clever, and written in a very original way (and with a lot of characteristically Porteño vocabulary that defeated the dictionary on my Kobo...) — I found myself reading this as more a book about parenthood than about pollution catastrophes. And of course about the struggle between the rational and the irrational in our minds when we come under stress.

[emma_mc_8 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Unsettling little book. A pervasive sense of dread compelled me forward, even though I was left with many unanswered questions. I finished it in one sitting.

[banjo123 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I am going to start this review with a link to the Tournament of Books, which you can find here. I have enjoyed following the TOB, and this year, [Fever Dream] won out over [Lincoln in the Bardo]; [Exit West]; [Sing, Unburied Sing] and other books. The reviewers all found this literary horror story impossible to put down. [[Meaghan O'Connell]] wrote:I had no intention to stay up past my bedtime to read an entire book that night, but putting it down was unfathomable. I was gripped, yes, but also sick with dread. I had to keep reading if for no other reason than with the hope that if I reached the end everything would be settled, the suspense would be over, the mystery solved. I was too ill at ease to look away. Getting up to pee in the quiet house had me genuinely unnerved, the way you feel after a bad dream. Vigilant. It had me clutching the walls in the hallway as I made my way to the bathroom, and later when I went to check on my sleeping son (I had to!).And here is [[Shelly Oria]] :"Well, Fever Dream saw me and went, Ha. “Ha” as in, I so got this. “Ha” as in, This sucker? I’m going to lure her into my cage, make a cute face so she pets me, AND THEN EAT HER ALIVE. You think I’m being dramatic? Read Fever Dream; this book will make you its bitch."OK, so I had to read it after that build-up, so I got it from the library, but then forgot the above warnings and picked it up at 9 PM on a weeknight. I had to read straight through. Luckily it is only 180 pages. Originally written in Spanish (translator Megan McDowell), it's a dialogue with woman who lies dying, in a conversation with a young boy, the son of a friend, who might be a ghost. Or maybe not? Creepy, great writing and translating, about parenthood and environmental terror. It's a gut punch.I am not sure it's actually better than all those other books, but I can't argue with the judgement. I will not be forgetting this book soon.

[alangilbert-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A hypnotic, lyrically specific ecological literary/horror story. Reads like a modern day Edgar Allan Poe story.

[sprainedbrain · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Well... that was very weird.Sparsely written, but the tension begins building from the start of this little book, and doesn’t let up. It really does read like a fever dream feels... all mixed up and confusing, and you know something terrible is coming and there’s no way to avoid it. Themes of pollution, poison, and maternal love, and the worry and terror over not being able to protect a child completely. Very dark and trippy.

[aliceanna-1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Yeah, no. First of all, it was too confusing. It took me forever to figure out the dual narrators so I ended up having to go back and re-read about a quarter of the book once I did. But I could have forgiven that confusion given the terrific creepy af atmosphere. But ultimately the payoff just wasn't worth it. It didn't end so much as it just faded away.

[violetbramble · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

My favorite book of the year, so far:I grabbed this book off the shelf on my way out the door because it was the smallest book available and would be the least heavy to carry around on a day that I would be carrying a lot of bags. I started reading it while waiting for my train. The train was a half hour late so I managed to get a good bit of reading done.This book grabs you on the first page and fills you with a sense of urgency -- something terrible is happening; what is it? who are these people? After returning home from my errands I sat down and finished the book. This is a strange and creepy book. The writing is brilliant. I wish I knew someone who reads this type of fiction because I really want to push this book on others.

[ellegato · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Oh this was so creepy and good!

There was so much packed into such a short narrative but it's also incredibly effective in its density, its breakneck pace, its ambiguity. There's a lot here to parse: the horror of environmental degradation written across the bodies of children; poisoning, fevers, and the trauma of illness breaking the "soul" from the wetwork of human bodies; the immensity of parental love in all its wonder and terror; the sense that no matter what you do, the worst will always happen and we are powerless to stop it.

I read this all in one sitting and I'm glad I did. It was a perfect length to sustain the ethereal feverish mood of the story. This was a great fusion between magical realist conventions and ecohorror, a beautiful terrifying book from an author who I will definitely return to!

[kayanelson · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Just won the Tournament of Books. Originally I wasn't going to read this but the initial judge who advanced this book convinced me it was worth a read. Like a lot of people I read it in one day. It's a compelling book, rather eerie and one can interpret it in many ways. Dark but good.

[booklove2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A short and odd little translation that constantly feels like a fever dream from the title. The tension begins on page one and never lets up. Somehow short translated novels end up being the oddest books that I read. I don't mind that this was so short and wasn't concrete with answers but I think it might have been a little too vague for me. Some of these great images will stick with me though. I read this as it was the summer winner of The Morning News Tournament of Books.

[dreesie-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

So I really enjoyed this weird little book, and not just because it as a super fast read. The interview format is interesting. But the ending...or the stopping might be a better way to put it. I have SO MANY questions. In many ways it feels like this book is not quite done, because really I cannot rate the book any higher without some resolution to these questions.--is this just a fever dream? Malarial or otherwise?--is the entire town/area being poisoned?--industrial, farm, or personal poison (are people being poisoned by C?)--do A and N die? Does C? Is that why A's husband goes to see C's husband and son, and C is not there?--ARGH

[antrat1965 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

The title pretty much sums up this short little story. A fever dream is pretty much what reading this felt like. Confusing, dreamy and spooky.
Wasn't my cup of tea because of that.
Schwebin is a good writer though and I will check out whatever she does next.

[carmenere_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This little gem of a book lassoed me at page 1! It is a tale told through a conversation between David and Amanda. It is dreamlike and surreal and so many questions begin to float through your mind, so you keep reading and reading and reading. From the start, we know that Amanda seems to be paralyzed and it is apparent that David has been through what Amanda is experiencing and it is frightening. Other characters they reference include Amanda's daughter, Nina and David's mother Carla and , oh yes, a mysterious lady in the green house. I could not put this book down yet the conclusion was a bit nebulous and rather undefined. But, don't let that hold you back, there's too much to this book that works.

[flying_monkeys_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

"Fresh and startling, this is like nothing you've ever read before."Bold words indeed. And yet, this might possibly be the quickest I've ever read a novella -- in little more than 90 minutes. I literally could not put it down; the way the story starts off, its breakneck pace, the words, the questions, the curiosity... dang near perfection! Here's page one: They're like worms.What kind of worms?Like worms, all over.It's the boy who's talking, murmuring into my ear.I am the one asking questions.Worms in the body?Yes, in the body.Earthworms?No, another kind of worms.It's dark and I can't see. The sheets are rough, they bunch up under my body. I can't move, but I'm talking.If you're open to the creepy, to the surreal, to the unconventional narrative structure, I dare you to pick this up and NOT devour it in one sitting.The depths of maternal love and the lengths to which she'll go to save her child wrapped up in an ecological horror story set in Argentina. When I say "horror," I mean in the (now seemingly) old-fashioned sense of the word: meticulous storytelling that conjures fear through a blend of reality and fantasy, an almost instant state of anxiety, dread, and suspicion.4.5 stars"I always imagine the worst-case scenario. Right now, for instance, I'm calculating how long it would take me to jump out of the car and reach Nina if she suddenly ran and leapt into the pool. I call it the "rescue distance": that's what I've named the variable distance separating me from my daughter, and I spend half the day calculating it, though I always risk more than I should."

[alanteder · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

"Fever Dream" is the first novel and the first English translation of Argentinean author Samanta Schweblin who has also published several Spanish language short-story collections.Fever Dream's original 2014 Spanish title was "Distancia de rescate" (literal title translation: The Distance of Rescue/The Rescue Distance) which is a recurring theme of the book that is first introduced on pg. 19: "I'm calculating how long it would take me to jump out of the car and reach Nina if she suddenly ran and leapt into the pool. I call it the "rescue distance": that's what I've named the variable distance separating me from my daughter, and I spend half the day calculating it..." The new English title is better as an overall description of the book and the process of reading it.The set-up of the book is that a mother named Amanda is being questioned by a boy named David. David's speech is in italic font to distinguish it from Amanda's. Theirs are the only voices we hear, but Amanda reports on events from several days to several years previous and quotes dialogue from others including that of David's mother Carla and Amanda's own daughter Nina. I am over-explaining this here because I found that I got disoriented after 20 or 30 pages into the book and had to restart in order to get a firmer grip on what was going on. I'm not going to explain further because that would get into spoiler territory but I read "Fever Dream" with a mounting sense of unease and dread and even though the reader is mostly left to draw their own conclusions as to the causes and circumstances of Amanda's and David's situation it is unlikely that anyone will not have a clear opinion although those may range from the supernatural to those grounded in reality.The year is early yet but I think "Fever Dream" is a strong candidate for my most compelling and compulsive read of 2017. It is actually quite short as well and its 183 page length is deceptive, as each page has only about 150 words or less on it (I think average books are about 300 words a page) so you can probably read it in about 3 hours/one sitting.

[hemlokgang · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

"Fever Dream" is an apt title for this story. Frankly, it was an unpleasant experience to listen to this. The rambling went on so long that I stopped caring about figuring what the heck was going on.

[Molly · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

If possible read this in one go. It's strange and dark and moving. Expertly written. I will have to reread it just to see what connections and hints I missed the first time around.
I will say I began this years ago and found it unnecessarily obscure but this time it wasn't. So it's definitely not for everyone but if you want something unusual and with clever and spare writing this is the one.

[dwcofer_1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

This is one of the worst books I have ever read. The prose is confusing, interspersing an elderly woman’s dream sequence with a present conversation between her and her grandson. The woman is in the hospital and on her death bed, while her grandson, who is at her bedside, urges her to finish a story of when he was much younger.The characters are not developed at all. I never felt like I knew them nor was I able to relate to them. The book is neither a thriller nor horror, as it is touted to be. I do not understand the huge amount of hype surrounding the book.The book is merely an attempt by the author to deliver a political statement regarding the use of pesticides in her home country. I do not read books for an author to preach to me or deliver a political statement. Just give me a good story. Unfortunately, this book fails to produce a satisfying story.