But is it any good?
The title sums it up very nicely indeed - although the original title in Spanish was The Rescue Distance (the spanish equivalent of that obviously). I'm not sure which title is better. The Spanish title suits the book very well - possibly more appropriate than the English title - but only really makes sense as a title when you've read the book, whereas Fever Dream wwas a title that caught my attention (for various reasons) The rescue distance is the distance Amamnda keeps between herself and her daughter Nina at all times.
This is a book that deserves to be read in one sitting. It takes the form of a conversation between Amanda and David. Amanda is apparently in a hospital bed with David sitting by her side, trying to get her to talk about some unspecified happening, the thing that brought them here to the emergency clinic.
The tension ratchets up and up with no letting go from the beginning. It's a shame I had to go back to work and concentrate on other things repeattedly in the last couple of days while I was reading this. I will be setting aside a free few hours at some point for a reread of this, to get the full effect.
The translation is excellent. The atmosphere is about as claustrophobic as I can remember a book this short ever being. The hints and foreshadowing are masterfully done with a nice level of ambiguity as well. The layers of the story buid and overlap, painting a genuine fever dream. I get the feeling this will terrify most parents of young children.
It's very difficult to put down. We need to know what the event was, what is it about the worms or the things very much like worms. What is it David wants to know, and does Amanda actually know better than him?
Highly recommended.
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