Fervour

The Secret History meets Jewish horror meets Jonathan Safran Foer in this exciting debut novel about a Jewish family in contemporary London. Hannah and Eric are a successful couple living in North London with their three children and Eric's father, Yosef, a survivor of the camps. They are devout Jews who believe in the literal truth of the Old Testament, all except for their youngest son, Tovyah. The death of Yosef fractures the family's apparent harmony and has a disastrous effect on Elsie, the model daughter, who disappears for four days, plunging her parents and siblings into a living nightmare. When she returns, just as mysteriously as she left, she is strangely altered. Witnessing the complete transformation of their daughter's personality and some increasingly hard-to-explain events, Hannah and Eric begin to suspect Elsie is under the influence of black magic while Tovyah, a brilliant university student, believes his sister is suffering a mental collapse caused by his parents' antiquated beliefs. But who is right? And can the family be reconciled before tearing itself apart? (P)2024 Hodder & Stoughton Limited