‘A sleeping sickness – that’s what he keeps calling it. A strange sleeping sickness has broken out at the college.’

The Dreamers By Karen Thompson Walker.

The Dreamers is a frightening read, for it tells a story that seems very similar to what we have all experienced in the last 3 years with the pandemic. There are numerous protagonists we follow through the pages as this illness breaks out in a college dorm, a trickle that turns into a flood as it spreads throughout the town. There is no story as such, just a narrative of kids, parents, doctors and nurses trying to figure out this new nightmarish reality they find themselves in, navigating through the outbreak, quarantine and search for a cure.

‘But whoever shares her lipstick that day, whoever borrows her eyeliner, whoever kisses her cheek that night or clinks her flute of champagne, whoever touches her hand to admire the ring, whoever catches the bouquet at the end of the night – all of them, every one, is exposed. This is how the sickness travels best: through all the same channels as do fondness and friendship and love.’

The Dreamers By Karen Thompson Walker.

I wasn’t too sure about the ending of The Dreamers at first, but on reflection I think it was about right. The writing in The Dreamers was so good, and it was a captivating, if a scary foreshadowing, read.

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