CAPE FEVER

A tense, atmospheric gothic thriller set in an indeterminate city centers on two women, a Muslim servant and her British employer, in the aftermath of World War I.

When Soraya Matas secures a place with Mrs. Alice Hattingh of 23 Heron Place, she feels fortunate, especially after leaving her previous employment with the Edenburgs due to the husband’s unwelcome advances. Soraya’s family, including several younger siblings and parents who depend on her income, lives in the Quarter—a crowded and underserved area of a city that resembles Cape Town, South Africa. Like their neighbors, Soraya’s family follows a faith different from their colonizers; her father is a calligrapher who specializes in the rakams, or handwritten prayers that grace local homes. Mrs. Hattingh lets Soraya know of her prejudices, asking if the young woman can crochet: “I’m sure you have your people’s nimble fingers.” Soon after Soraya enters the room in which she’ll sleep, she knows that it’s haunted by a Gray Woman, a specter filled with rage and disappointment that she’s been able to see since childhood; in this case, she’s convinced it’s her unfortunate predecessor, Fatima. Although she finds her work dull and repetitive, Soraya initially enjoys the relative peace of Heron Place, especially as she’s able to return home once a fortnight. But Mrs. Hattingh grows peevish when she anticipates her son Timothy’s visit from England and orders Soraya to stay put. As a sop, she dangles the promise of writing letters to her servant’s betrothed, Nour, who is working on a farm in order to save money for teacher’s college. Both women are holding back information, which makes for a perfect storm of fury—yet there is no question that Alice Hattingh’s sins are greater and more destructive, even if driven by tragedy. This novel will remind readers that our world has been interconnected for a long time, and that the powerful affect those less so, even when there are oceans between them.

This beautifully assured novel interweaves the ghostly and the historical until both feel simultaneously real and imagined.