This is a pandemic novel, yes, but one that radically transcends the label. My Review of Unsettled Ground Dot’s death uncovers an unsettling chain of events. It is a portrait of life on the fringes of society that explores with dazzling emotional power how we can build our lives on broken foundations, and spin light from darkness. The entwined pain and pleasure of memory is at the heart of Neffy’s story, as is the hard work of establishing trust and finding forgiveness, particularly for oneself. Unsettled Ground is a heart-stopping novel of betrayal and resilience, love and survival. Fuller’s intricately structured narrative makes great use of the Revisiting conceit, allowing Neffy’s history-including her love for an octopus she once cared for at an aquarium-to wrap itself around an increasingly nightmarish present, as Neffy uncovers secrets about the virus’s progression that other volunteers have been keeping from her. Neffy, who may have developed immunity, is identified as the group’s best hope for the future, but after fellow test subject Leon introduces her to a new technology called Revisiting, which allows her to relive moments from her past, she becomes increasingly drawn to the treatment. While Neffy and her fellow volunteers are isolated in a London hospital as they undergo treatment, the virus, nicknamed “Dropsy,” develops a new and deadly variant, which causes sudden memory loss before certain death. Twenty-something Neffy, still grieving the loss of her father and embarrassed by the crumbling of her marine biology career after a professional misstep, signs up as a vaccine test subject during the early days of the pandemic. Fuller ( Unsettled Ground) crafts a haunting novel of second chances set in a near-future pandemic.
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