Fever Dream (Schweblin novel)

Fever Dream is a 2014 novella by Argentine author Samanta Schweblin, originally published in Spanish as Kentukis. It was translated into English by Megan McDowell and published in 2017. The novella utilizes a fragmented, unsettling narrative structure to explore themes of environmental contamination, motherhood, fear, and the insidious nature of technological connection.

The story unfolds as a feverish dialogue between Amanda, a woman lying ill in a rural hospital, and David, a young boy who is not her son. David attempts to guide Amanda's fragmented memories, forcing her to piece together the events leading to her illness. The narrative reveals that Amanda's family vacation was disrupted by her anxieties surrounding the potential dangers of pesticides in the local water supply. This fear is heightened after she meets Carla, a local woman whose son, David, has been subjected to a mysterious "migration" process to remove toxins from his body.

Throughout the narrative, Schweblin employs dreamlike imagery and an atmosphere of creeping dread. The exact nature of the contamination and the specifics of the "migration" remain ambiguous, contributing to the novella's sense of unease and psychological horror. The relationship between Amanda and David, and the blurring lines between their identities, add to the story's unsettling quality.

Fever Dream has been widely praised for its originality, its exploration of contemporary anxieties, and its innovative narrative structure. It was shortlisted for the Man Booker International Prize in 2017 and has been adapted into a Netflix film. The novella's impact lies in its ability to evoke a sense of pervasive dread and explore the anxieties of modern life through a lens of distorted reality.