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A Novel
by Toby Lloyd
A chilling and unforgettable story of a close-knit Jewish family in London pushed to the brink when they suspect their daughter is a witch.
Hannah and Eric Rosenthal are devout Jews living in North London with their three children and Eric's father Yosef, a Holocaust survivor. Both intellectually gifted and deeply unconventional, the Rosenthals believe in the literal truth of the Old Testament and in the presence of God (and evil) in daily life. As Hannah prepares to publish a sensationalist account of Yosef's years in war-torn Europe—unearthing a terrible secret from his time in the camps—Elsie, her perfect daughter, starts to come undone. And then, in the wake of Yosef's death, she disappears. When she returns, just as mysteriously as she left, she is altered in disturbing ways.
Witnessing the complete transformation of her daughter, Hannah begins to suspect that Elsie has delved too deep into the labyrinths of Jewish mysticism and gotten lost among shadows. But for Elsie's brother Tovyah, a brilliant but reclusive student struggling to find his place at Oxford, the truth is much simpler: his sister is the product of a dysfunctional family, obsessed with empty rituals, traditions, and unbridled ambition. But who is right? Is religion the cure for the disease or the disease itself? And how can they stop the darkness from engulfing Elsie completely?
Alive with both the bristling energy of a great campus novel and the unsettling, ever-shifting ground of a great horror tale, Fervor is at its heart a family story—where personal allegiances compete with obligations to history and to mysterious forces that offer both consolation and devastation.
"Extraordinary... In Lloyd's explorations of religion, family, academia, and the haunting effects of the past, his writing is remarkably nuanced and, at the same time, suffused with suspense. A tremendous debut from a strikingly talented new writer." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"A gripping and powerful story of a British Jewish family visited by ghosts and divided by politics... Fans of Isaac Bashevis Singer and Stephen King alike will thrill to this superb modern folk tale." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Lloyd's suspenseful debut novel propels the reader deep into the heart of an idiosyncratic—and decidedly dysfunctional—family...Infused with motifs from Jewish folklore and classic horror films, Fervour animates themes of betrayal, belief and the past's long tail." —The Guardian
"[In] this debut [that] explores identity, faith, and folklore ... the dynamics are acutely observed, the characters vividly realized, and the escalating drama has the hypnotic, chilling effect of a horror film." —The Bookseller (Editor's Choice)
"Bracing, compassionate, wise, terrifying—this beautifully written novel will haunt your dreams. That is, if you can put it down long enough to get any sleep." —Darin Strauss, author of Half a Life
"Intriguing, propulsive and profoundly disturbing, this is a fearless look into the dark heart of family politics from a naturally-gifted storyteller." —Jonathan Coe, author of Middle England
This information about Fervor was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Toby Lloyd was born in London to a secular father and a Jewish mother. He studied English at Oxford University before moving to America to pursue an MFA in Creative Writing at NYU. He has published short stories and essays in Carve Magazine and the Los Angeles Review of Books and was longlisted for the 2021 V. S. Pritchett Short Story Prize. He lives in London.
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