Book description
Exceptional tales of emancipation and evolution at the birth of the
modern era. Winner of US National Book Award.
'Andrea Barrett's work stands out for its sheer intelligence. The
overall effect is quietly dazzling.' New York Times
Set against the backdrop of the nineteenth century, this elegant
collection of stories take their impulse from the world of science.
Interweaving historical and fictional characters, they illuminate the
secret passions of those driven by a devotion to, and an intimate
acquaintance with, the natural world.
'Barrett's stories fascinate…she pulls us into them as into fast-moving
water.' San Francisco Chronicle
'Beautiful stories about the wonder and work of science. The title
novella describes the horrors of typhus in the newly arrived Irish
immigrants to Quebec, and suggests that, in epidemics, medicine is more
a piece of politics than a form of science. In Barrett's hands, science
is transformed from hard and known fact into malleable, strange and
thrilling fictional material.' Boston Globe
'An extraordinary story collection. Barrett blends a sure grasp of the
history and method of science into each of her evocative tales.' Chicago Tribune
'Many of these stories are set in the late nineteenth century, the
adolescence of modern science. Barrett's women are often scoffed at for
their love of learning. Some try to use science as a currency with which
to buy acceptance in a male-dominated world. But no character relates
only to his or her work. Barrett builds her fictions like stones thrown
into prose ponds: science is the stone, while human dramas, personal and
social, are the concentric rings that radiate beautifully outward.'
Newsday 'A truly stylish book'
Penelope Fitzgerald
'Elegant and exhilarating, subtle and haunting. Barrett has an
alchemist's talent for transforming scientific fact into lively fiction.'
Sunday Times
'A stunning follow-up to The Voyage of the Narwhal, Ship Fever
interweaves the scientific advances of hte nineteenth century with tales
of love and passion. Barrett pays particular attention to the women of
the time, constrained by convention, ridiculed for hteir attempts to
enter the masculine world of medicine and politics, who nevertheless
battled to improve the lot of the poor and needy. Wise, beautifully
written and full of historical insights.'
Marie Claire Andrea Barrett has written four novels, among them The
Voyage of the Narwhal, which Flamingo published in March 1999. She lives
in Rochester, New York.
