The Memory of Animals

A debilitating new virus is sweeping across the globe. As panic sets in and flights are grounded, a group of young volunteers are sealed inside a London medical unit. They are taking part in a controlled vaccine trial, and the future of humanity rests on their shoulders. One of the volunteers is a young woman running away from grief and guilt and the big mistake that derailed her career. For Neffy, the trial offers one last chance to pay off her many debts, and, perhaps, to make up for the past. But then the virus mutates. The streets outside fall silent. Food begins to run out, and Neffy isn`t sure she can trust the four other strangers trapped inside the unit. She is faced with a choice: stay, or run. How do you choose between a past that has already disappeared forever, and a future you can`t begin to imagine? Haunting and compelling, The Memory of Animals is a novel about freedom and captivity, survival and sacrifice, and what we cling to when everything else has been taken away, from the Costa Award-winning, Women`s Prize-shortlisted author of Unsettled Ground.