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cecilialau_'s review against another edition
3.25
If you are into learning more about the Woolf’s even though it’s fictionalised to a point, I think you would definitely enjoy this.
The story was a kind of meta-fiction, as the main character is writing a book with the same title about Leonard Woolf and we follow her in the process as well as his life. So the timeline goes between the two that take place a century apart (thankfully her name, Alice, is different from the authors, which I personally appreciate bc otherwise it feels to much like auto-fiction to me and that’s not a personal preference).
I went in with a very different expectation than what I got. I guess I thought it would centre the pandemic more but it did a good job, I just wasn’t getting what I expected. So sometimes it was a bit drawn out imo. And I had to take a moment to “accept” the ghost/imaginary visits.
The first part was short and sharp and fuelled my high expectations. I thought the ending was fine, I had no problem with it. I wanted to be in the author’s timeline more but both centred Woolf so sometimes it didn’t make that much of a difference.
I like the concept though and it felt accomplished, again, my expectations just got me on a different path so I don’t think I’m part of the intended audience to fully appreciate it for what it was.
The story was a kind of meta-fiction, as the main character is writing a book with the same title about Leonard Woolf and we follow her in the process as well as his life. So the timeline goes between the two that take place a century apart (thankfully her name, Alice, is different from the authors, which I personally appreciate bc otherwise it feels to much like auto-fiction to me and that’s not a personal preference).
I went in with a very different expectation than what I got. I guess I thought it would centre the pandemic more but it did a good job, I just wasn’t getting what I expected. So sometimes it was a bit drawn out imo. And I had to take a moment to “accept” the ghost/imaginary visits.
The first part was short and sharp and fuelled my high expectations. I thought the ending was fine, I had no problem with it. I wanted to be in the author’s timeline more but both centred Woolf so sometimes it didn’t make that much of a difference.
I like the concept though and it felt accomplished, again, my expectations just got me on a different path so I don’t think I’m part of the intended audience to fully appreciate it for what it was.
rustykingswood's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
ondrobondro's review
4.0
Thoroughly enjoyed this. I can appreciate the reviews here suggesting that it never quite coalesced at the end, but to be honest I rather appreciate that. More and more I’m impressed by novels that don’t attempt to give easy resolutions, but instead provide a series of threads and leave you to do the sewing.
To that end, the ending was a little dissatisfying for me for the opposite reason - it wasn’t neat, necessarily, but not as ambiguous and messy as the rest of the book felt like it was leading towards. The metafictional concept at the heart of the book is well trodden ground, but I found it refreshing here simply because of Cunningham’s tendency to let you draw parallels yourself instead of trying to point out how clever she is. The moments where Cunningham was able to get out of her own way and tell the story that needed telling, in all its messiness, was when I found myself the most engrossed.
To that end, the ending was a little dissatisfying for me for the opposite reason - it wasn’t neat, necessarily, but not as ambiguous and messy as the rest of the book felt like it was leading towards. The metafictional concept at the heart of the book is well trodden ground, but I found it refreshing here simply because of Cunningham’s tendency to let you draw parallels yourself instead of trying to point out how clever she is. The moments where Cunningham was able to get out of her own way and tell the story that needed telling, in all its messiness, was when I found myself the most engrossed.
emilyfrizz's review
4.0
3.75. This novel is quite odd but in a beautiful kind of way. It flits between two times, two stories, that feel increasingly entwined. It captures the feelings of the pandemic almost perfectly - the listlessness, the grief, the insanity. It has the tone of a classic, while feeling modern and timely.
agirlandabook85's review
4.0
I have rather eclectic reading tastes I tend to jump around the genres and so I suspect that is why this genre defying novel appealed so much to me when it was brought to my attention by @savidgereads in his @womensprize prediction video.
Part historical biography/ fictional reimagining of the life of Leonard and Virginia Woolf, part true account of Cunningham writing said book about the Woolfs told through a fictional author named Alice. Alice is struggling to finish the book to the standard of her editor, a book which takes decades to write. The time to write encompasses the fears of Y2K, Australian bush fires, climate crisis and covid pandemic. As Alice descends further into her writing the ghosts of Leonard and Virginia start to appear to question and challenge her understanding and artistic directions.
I appreciate that all sounds rather strange but Cunningham has cleverly woven it all together into a fascinating and thought provoking novel but also one that’s easy and enjoyable to read.
This will hold huge interest to those interested in history of literature and the Bloomsbury early scenes, once again I’m questioning why despite owning a few I’ve yet to pick up a book written by Woolf. Worst still there are so many references both in the historical and modern day chapters I came away with a long list of books to add to my wishlist.
Some of my favourite parts were the interactions between Alice and the ghosts, these were both amusing and helped to tie up the historical and modern sections. Whilst sounding implausible I actually took these sections to be occurring in Alice’s head as she became more enclosed in her writing and they made me ponder about the obsession required for artists.
Very clever and also timely, it provokes questions both with the reader and on a wider scale, this would be an interesting book club read there’s lots to unpick! Thank you @ultimopress and @netgalley for this copy in exchange for an honest review.
Part historical biography/ fictional reimagining of the life of Leonard and Virginia Woolf, part true account of Cunningham writing said book about the Woolfs told through a fictional author named Alice. Alice is struggling to finish the book to the standard of her editor, a book which takes decades to write. The time to write encompasses the fears of Y2K, Australian bush fires, climate crisis and covid pandemic. As Alice descends further into her writing the ghosts of Leonard and Virginia start to appear to question and challenge her understanding and artistic directions.
I appreciate that all sounds rather strange but Cunningham has cleverly woven it all together into a fascinating and thought provoking novel but also one that’s easy and enjoyable to read.
This will hold huge interest to those interested in history of literature and the Bloomsbury early scenes, once again I’m questioning why despite owning a few I’ve yet to pick up a book written by Woolf. Worst still there are so many references both in the historical and modern day chapters I came away with a long list of books to add to my wishlist.
Some of my favourite parts were the interactions between Alice and the ghosts, these were both amusing and helped to tie up the historical and modern sections. Whilst sounding implausible I actually took these sections to be occurring in Alice’s head as she became more enclosed in her writing and they made me ponder about the obsession required for artists.
Very clever and also timely, it provokes questions both with the reader and on a wider scale, this would be an interesting book club read there’s lots to unpick! Thank you @ultimopress and @netgalley for this copy in exchange for an honest review.
isigfethera's review
4.0
‘This Devastating Fever’ is quite a ride! Self-reflexive, funny, anxious and in a sort of in-between of fiction and non-fiction. But it’s definitely a novel.
It’s a book about a writer (Alice) struggling to write a book about the life of Leonard Woolf, and also a book about Leonard Woolf. As that implies it deals with some of the struggles of writing biographically, and depicting real complex people on a page, which I really loved. By turns you get quotations from diaries and factual footnotes full of background info, written out third person historical fiction narrative about the Woolfs and their contemporaries, Alice’s reflections on the Woolfs and the appearance of Leonard and later Virginia as ghosts who argue with Alice about their representation and give her background insights into their lives.
‘This Devastating Fever’ is also a pandemic novel, as the writer spends around 20 years writing her book and that takes in the pandemic, as seen through Melbourne’s lockdowns. But also: climate change, fires, floods, colonialism, me too, the mouse plagues, fascism, refugees and Sri Lanka’s political instability. That all got a bit too much as it sort of snowballed toward the end, but at the same time isn’t that accurate to the experience of living through the last few years? She throws a lot of historical parallels in there, while winking at them a bit, which shows just how precedented our unprecedented times really are.
It’s a very different book but I was reminded a bit of Emily St John Mandel’s ‘Sea of Tranquility’, which both include self-insert characters and both sort of make you feel as though COVID has broken the very structure of the novel. Similar to ‘The Sentence’ by Louise Erdrich as well in that regard. There are also snippets in ‘This Devastating Fever’ of Alice wondering about whether fiction has a future at all- and I kind of like how these books sort of fracture under the weight of trying to represent the chaotic present. Personally I believe the novel is doing very well (though I can’t vouch for the well-being of the authors).
It’s a book about a writer (Alice) struggling to write a book about the life of Leonard Woolf, and also a book about Leonard Woolf. As that implies it deals with some of the struggles of writing biographically, and depicting real complex people on a page, which I really loved. By turns you get quotations from diaries and factual footnotes full of background info, written out third person historical fiction narrative about the Woolfs and their contemporaries, Alice’s reflections on the Woolfs and the appearance of Leonard and later Virginia as ghosts who argue with Alice about their representation and give her background insights into their lives.
‘This Devastating Fever’ is also a pandemic novel, as the writer spends around 20 years writing her book and that takes in the pandemic, as seen through Melbourne’s lockdowns. But also: climate change, fires, floods, colonialism, me too, the mouse plagues, fascism, refugees and Sri Lanka’s political instability. That all got a bit too much as it sort of snowballed toward the end, but at the same time isn’t that accurate to the experience of living through the last few years? She throws a lot of historical parallels in there, while winking at them a bit, which shows just how precedented our unprecedented times really are.
It’s a very different book but I was reminded a bit of Emily St John Mandel’s ‘Sea of Tranquility’, which both include self-insert characters and both sort of make you feel as though COVID has broken the very structure of the novel. Similar to ‘The Sentence’ by Louise Erdrich as well in that regard. There are also snippets in ‘This Devastating Fever’ of Alice wondering about whether fiction has a future at all- and I kind of like how these books sort of fracture under the weight of trying to represent the chaotic present. Personally I believe the novel is doing very well (though I can’t vouch for the well-being of the authors).