The eight stories in this collection, set in periods from the 18th century to the present day, are deeply felt meditations on science. As they move between interior and exterior journeys, “science is transformed from hard and known fact into malleable, strange and thrilling fictional material” ( Boston Globe). Ship Feverwon the American National Book Award, 1996. In the tradition of Alice Munro and William Trevor, these exquisitely rendered fictions encompass whole lives in a brief space. And in “The Littoral Zone,” two marine biologists wonder whether their life-altering affair finally was worth it. In “The English Pupil,” Linnaeus, in old age, watches as the world he organized within his head slowly drifts beyond his reach. In “Ship Fever,” the title novella, a young Canadian doctor finds himself at the center of one of history’s most tragic epidemics. Interweaving historical and fictional characters, they encompass both past and present as they negotiate the complex territory of ambition, failure, achievement, and shattered dreams. The elegant short fictions gathered hereabout the love of science and the science of love are often set against the backdrop of the nineteenth century. Throughout, Barrett’s great theme comes shining through: how the smallest events of the past can have large reverberations across the generations, and how potent, wondrous, and strange the relationship between history and memory can be. Told with Barrett’s characteristic elegance, passion for science, and wonderful eye for the natural world, these psychologically astute and moving stories evoke the ways women’s lives and expectations - in families, in work, and in love - have shifted across a century and more.

The six exquisite stories in Natural History (including the unforgettable capstone, the novella-length title story) are set largely in a small community in central New York State and portray some of her most beloved characters. The behavior of the hawkweeds - The English pupil - The littoral zone - Rare bird - Soroche - Birds with no feet - The Marburg sisters - Ship fever. In Natural History, Andrea Barrett completes and connects the lives of the family of scientists, teachers, and innovators she has been weaving throughout her books since her National Book Award – winning collection Ship Fever was published twenty-five years ago.

Ship fever by andrea barrett