'This Devastating Fever is a very good novel.' - Howard Jacobson, New Statesman

'I loved this book. I absolutely loved it.' - Christos Tsiolkas, author of The Slap and Barracuda

'This is a great novel of enduring significance and enormous beauty.' - Sydney Morning Herald

Sometimes you need to delve into the past, to make sense of the present.

Alice had not expected to spend most of the twenty-first century writing about Leonard Woolf. When she stood on Morell Bridge watching fireworks explode from the rooftops of Melbourne at the start of a new millennium, she had only two thoughts. One was: the fireworks are better in Sydney. The other was: is Y2K going to be a thing? Y2K was not a thing. But there were worse disasters to come. Environmental collapse. The return of fascism. Wars. A sexual reckoning. A plague.

Uncertain of what to do she picks up an unfinished project and finds herself trapped with the ghosts of writers past. What began as a novel about a member of the Bloomsbury Set becomes something else altogether. Complex, heartfelt, darkly funny and deeply moving, this is a dazzlingly original novel about what it's like to live through a time that feels like the end of days, and how we can find comfort and answers in the past.

About the Author
Sophie Cunningham AM is the author of seven books, across multiple fiction and nonfiction, children and adults and include City of Trees - Essays on life, death and the need for a forest, and Melbourne. She is also editor of the collection Fire, Flood, Plague: Australian writers respond to 2020. Sophie's former roles include as a book publisher and editor, chair of the Literature Board of the Australia Council, editor of the literary journal Meanjin, and co-founder of The Stella Prize celebrating women's writing. She is now an adjunct professor at RMIT University's non/fiction Lab. In 2019, Sophie was made a Member of the Order of Australia for her contributions to literature.

Reviews
This Devastating Fever is a very good novel. -- Howard Jacobson * New Statesman *



Book Information
ISBN 9781761151576
Author Sophie Cunningham
Format Hardback
Page Count 320
Imprint Ultimo Press
Publisher Ultimo Press
Weight(grams) 540g