When she meets the other survivors, she adapts quickly to their social structures but also begins to contemplate the emotional and mental changes she will need to make in order to survive. She spends years at her job despite never receiving her desired promotion to the Arts department. She moves on from her parents’ deaths seemingly quickly (although they still remain in many of her thoughts) and refuses to leave New York with her boyfriend before the pandemic spreads.

Much of Candace’s motivations surround the juxtaposition between her insistence on holding onto her job and the ease with which she drifts from place to place. The story is rife with observations on human nature and the tendency for people to stick to their “safe” and comfortable routines. Eventually, she meets a group of survivors who are also immune to the illness and travels with them to a safehold dubbed “The Facility” by the group leader, Bob. At this point in time, Shen Fever spreads, and as the number of infected people grows, millions leave New York while Candace stays. Candace’s boyfriend breaks up with her when she is unwilling to move away with him and give up her corporate job. The narrative alternates between present and past and builds the architecture of Candace’s life as a disillusioned workaholic clinging to old memories. Severance focuses on Candace Chen, a Chinese American in New York City who spends her days negotiating with frustrating clients as a publishing coordinator for biblical texts. The novel certainly has moments of suspense as well as wry satirical humor, but Ma primarily uses her book to present an intimate and stark look at how human beings can decay both physically and emotionally. However, upon reading the book, I was met with a very different spin on the end-times. Or, perhaps something more focused on science and politics, like World War Z. Like COVID-19, Shen Fever originated from China, requires public use of face masks and caused global havoc.īefore I began Severance, I expected the usual fare of post-apocalyptic stories: thrilling life or death situations and running from the flesh-eating undead. Shen Fever is the coronavirus (COVID-19) of Severance, a 2018 novel by Ling Ma that features a story eerily similar to the pandemic today. Spread through fungal spores, the disease infects a person’s brain and effectively turns them into harmless, slowly-decaying zombies. Shen Fever is a fatal respiratory illness that disrupts the nervous system of its victims.

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