The memory of animals

Fuller, Claire

£9.99

Neffy is a young woman running away from grief and guilt, and the one big mistake that has derailed her career. When she answers the call to volunteer in a controlled vaccine trial, it offers her a way to pay off her many debts and, perhaps, to make up for the past. But when the London streets below her window fall silent, and all external communications cease, only Neffy and four other volunteers remain in the unit. With food running out, and a growing sense that the strangers she is with may be holding back secrets, Neffy has questions that no-one can answer. Does safety lie inside or beyond the unit? And who, or what is out there? While she weighs up her choices, she is introduced to a pioneering and controversial technology which allows her to revisit memories from her life before: a childhood divided between her enigmatic mother and her father in his small hotel in Greece.

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Publish Date: 04/07/2024

Description

FROM THE COSTA AWARD-WINNING, WOMEN’S PRIZE-SHORTLISTED AUTHOR OF UNSETTLED GROUND

‘A stunning piece of speculative fiction’ The i

‘A haunting novel about love, survival and everything in between … One to get excited about’ Stylist, Best Modern Dystopia

Humans are useless at learning from their mistakes. We just have to keep making new plans.

When Neffy wakes up from an uneasy sleep in a hospital bed, nothing is as it should be. There is no food, and nobody to tend to her. The city streets outside her window have fallen silent. She doesn’t know it yet, but a debilitating new virus is sweeping the globe, and the world will never be the same again.

Feverish, confused, and wary of the strangers trapped inside with her, Neffy finds solace in her own memories of the past – even the memories of the mistakes that led her here.

But as the days turn into weeks, it is clear that Neffy will have to make a choice. How do you choose between a past that has already disappeared forever, and a future you can’t begin to imagine?

‘Unsettling, moving and thoughtful, with horror lurking at the edges, this is a subtle, elegant novel. Claire Fuller is a huge talent’ Lucy Atkins, author of Magpie Lane

Compulsive and thoroughly convincing. Terrific!’ Clare Chambers, author of Small Pleasures

Additional information

Weight 225 g
Dimensions 198 × 129 × 19 mm
Author

Publisher

Imprint

Cover

Paperback

Pages

307

Language

English

Edition

1st paperback ed

Dewey

823.92 (edition:23)

Readership

General – Trade / Code: K