The Memory of Animals by Claire Fuller is a gripping contemporary thriller that immerses readers in a world gripped by a pandemic and a high-stakes vaccine trial. Fuller's writing is tense and atmospheric, capturing the fear and uncertainty that pervade society. The story follows a protagonist caught in the midst of this chaos, uncovering dark secrets and facing moral dilemmas. The intricate plot keeps readers guessing, while the exploration of memory and the human-animal connection adds depth to the narrative. With its timely themes and expertly crafted suspense, The Memory of Animals is a compelling and thought-provoking thriller that will leave readers on the edge of their seats.

I’m completely braised. I love Claire Fullers writing, I’ve loved everything I’ve read by her and The Memory of Animals is no exception. And the fact that this could be described as a dystopian or even an apocalyptic novel made it even more fascinating. I love this genre - even though it usually enters my dreams and makes for an interesting nights sleep!

This is a pandemic novel - but not our pandemic, not Covid. This is a dropsy-type disease, where those infected swell up, their brains swell up too, they forget - and more often than not, they die.

Neffy (Nefeli) and a group of young people volunteer to be vaccinated against, and then infected by, the virus. Something goes wrong, and it looks as though Neffy and four other test volunteers are the only ones who are alive and well. But they can’t leave the building they’re in and the food is running out.

Neffy is a Marine Biologist, an Aquarist, and my favourite parts were her letters to ‘H’ as well as her flashbacks to childhood and pre-pandemic.

This isn’t *just* a speculative, science fiction book, it’s a story about the human condition, about the human drive to survive against the odds, regret, loss, grief, memory, love and above all, hope.

I could go on and on about this. I would never have expected a novel like this from Claire Fuller after reading her previous novels, but that’s what makes it even better. I actually read this twice (unheard of for me, actually). I finished it and immediately started reading again.

So yes, I would most definitely strongly recommend this book!

Sadly, this just didn’t work for me. It’s a reasonably imaginative piece of dystopian/speculative fiction, but there are so many things that just don’t add up, that I couldn’t suspend my disbelief and go along with it. There are three threads and they don’t satisfactorily coalesce. The main narrative focusses on Neffy, whom we meet at the start of the book entering a medical facility to volunteer for a vaccine trial against a new virus. (Although surely vaccines aren’t administered intravenously?) Anyway, a new variant of the virus comes along and all goes to pot. Then a sci-fi element is introduced with the Revisitor, invented by a fellow volunteer, a machine that somehow allows someone to revisit their memories in virtual reality. No, I couldn’t buy this. And then Neffy is hung-up on octopi and writes letters to one she once met. What this has to do with the story I couldn’t work out. And found it daft. To make matters worse, all the characters, including Neffy, are relatively bland and uninteresting, and there’s no real sense of urgency or jeopardy, something sorely lacking in a pandemic novel after what we’ve all just endured. So a thumbs down for me, which is a shame, as I know Claire Fuller can do better than this.

With five absorbing novels published in eight years, Claire Fuller has rapidly become one of the essential voices in contemporary literary fiction. Her accolades include a Desmond Elliott Prize for Our Endless Numbered Days and a Costa Novel Award for Unsettled Ground, as well as multiple nominations. The Memory of Animals, her latest work, begins in a familiar mid-pandemic landscape but takes on additional facets as the protagonist relives episodes from her past and ponders the compassion owed to animals and humanity.

Neffy has nothing to lose when she enrols in a controversial vaccine trial in London. It’s clear that the twenty-seven-year-old is in disgrace for some reason, and hopes that in contributing to medical advancements she can atone for what she’s done. (Plus she gets paid.) There is a pandemic underway whose specifics Fuller wisely keeps hazy: all we’re told is that the Dropsy virus causes a fatal swelling of the organs. Judging by the emptiness of the city streets and later dystopian scenes of abandoned homes and cars, looting, and corpses littering public spaces, it’s significantly more deadly than Covid. Neffy is taking a huge risk in allowing herself to be injected with the virus after inoculation through the Vaccine BioPharm trial.

The novel is presented as Neffy’s journal, the chapters labelled Day Zero, Day One, and so on. The bulk of it takes place in the two weeks she spends on a locked unit with four fellow test subjects: Leon, Piper, Rachel, and Yahiko. It wasn’t at all a sure thing that Neffy would wake up after receiving the virus, so when she resurfaces into consciousness she is assumed to be invincible: the only one among them who had time to complete the trial before the situation became much worse outside and the volunteers were left to their fate. Now that she is immune, she can go out for supplies. The rationed frozen meals and packaged snacks will soon be gone, and Neffy could just be their salvation – and even a new Eve.

In the meantime, Leon has introduced her to an experimental technology he was working on before the trial: the Revisitor allows one to reinhabit a memory. Again, the particulars are nebulous; we only know that it works via pebble-like sensors held in the palms. Revisiting is a clever way for Fuller to give Neffy’s history without tedious flashbacks – even though that’s essentially what these are. The adult Neffy is not time travelling, so she can’t alter the past, only observe it again. She never knows where she’ll go. Perhaps her father’s hotel in Greece; or her mum’s Dorset home, where Neffy started an affair with her stepbrother, Justin; or the aquarium where she worked and developed a special relationship with an octopus.

To say more about how these strands intersect with each other and feed into the main narrative could occasion spoilers. The elements feel randomly assembled, but together they do make up the psychological background to Neffy’s decision making. Her bonds with her father and with the octopus, in particular, are the key to understanding why she wanted to take part in this trial. A love of animals has made her sensitive to suffering, and her vegetarianism comes to be an important plot point.

The characterisation of the four other cast members is somewhat thin; apart from their gender and ethnicity, we learn just one or two details about them. This effectively limits the focus to Neffy and her story, while the others’ experiences might have broadened the view and flexed some different authorial muscles. A short scene in which they celebrate Rachel’s birthday on the unit is the best instance of them functioning as an ensemble. The pacing is a little off as well: we’re nearly one-third through before Neffy first goes Revisiting, and too much of the high action, including several big reveals, are held back for the final 20 pages.

To an extent, the novel is a locked-room mystery in that it becomes clear that the other four are keeping something from Neffy. For much of its length, though, it reminded me of works by Emily St John Mandel. The world-building and tech are unlikely to stand up to science fiction fans’ scrutiny, but it has just the right dose of the speculative for literary fiction readers. It also happens to fit into a recent vogue for octopus novels such as Sea Change by Gina Chung, The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler, and Remarkable Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt. Whatever she may write about next, Claire Fuller is here to stay.

In the midst of a devastating pandemic, marine biologist Neffy volunteers for a clinical trial of a new vaccine. The money from the trial will give her a chance to repay the debts she has wracked up following her dismissal from her aquarium job. The trial goes wrong and a new variant of the virus threatens humanity. Neffy and a selection of other vaccine volunteers are abandoned in the hospital. Neffy appears to be immune to the virus and is under pressure to leave the safety of the hospital to gather food for the survivors. Another volunteer introduces Neffy to an experimental new technology that allows people to revisit memories from their past. Neffy becomes dependent on the Revisitor technology to cling to memories of her father, mother, and lover.

This is the third Claire Fuller novel I've read and I knew to expect beautiful and thoughtful prose and complex characters. I had read some mixed reviews of this one so I was a bit unsure where this would go but it really got under my skin and I'm still thinking about it days later. I enjoyed Neffy's excavation of her memories and her letters to H more than the pandemic, speculative fiction element but the blend of the two worked for me.

With thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

Claire Fuller is one of my favourite authors so I was so excited to pick this up and this book did not disappoint. I do not usually enjoy books about the pandemic as I dont like to revisit, however this story is so much more - family, friendship, love, courage, survival. Fantastic, highly recommend.

The Memory of Animals is certainly both timely and topical - I read a chunk of this novel while I was home having tested positive for covid, which made for an interesting reading experience. I was especially moved by Neffy's experiences with revisiting - seeing how Neffy made sense of her past, viewing this from the vantage point knowing what is to come and what awaits her - reminded me that life can sometimes take unexpected turns, but our ability to find strength in such times is what makes us human. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Another highly accomplished novel from this very talented author. A genre-bending piece of speculative fiction; a stunning amalgam of pandemic, dystopian and science fiction writing. Taking place primarily in a private clinic where the inhabitants have agreed to take part in a possible life-saving vaccine trial for a killer viral pandemic that is decimating the world’s population.
It could be bleak, it could be boring and it could be repetitive however it is NONE of those things. It also features the most fascinating octopus facts.
It is quite simply brilliant.
Many thanks to the publisher for a review copy via NetGalley.

I really ‘liked’ this dystopian novel, which I read rather quickly and obsessively. To me it was more than just another book about a pandemic. It was all about friendship, family, love, freedom, rights, choice, memories, life, and sadly also death. The ending disappointed me a bit though.
Thank you Fig Tree and Netgalley UK for the ARC.

The Memory of Animals is a dystopian pandemic book that imagines what it would be like if a deadly virus wiped out most of the human population and you were not only one of the only survivors but one of the only people with immunity.

Our protagonist is Neffy, a 24 year old marine biologist who has agreed to take part in a human trial of a vaccine against a virus Dropsy which causes sensory damage, memory loss and ultimately death. She is stuck in a central London hospital with the other volunteers who have also joined this program and has to start building bonds with them as they come to terms with their current situation.

We discover through a series of letters and flashbacks more about Nelly, her love of octopuses and what prompted her to take part in this human trial. As Neffy and the other volunteers wait for help that may never come, they face suspicion, power dynamics and ultimately if they can trust each other secrets that threaten to tear them apart. The novel is a gripping and emotional exploration of freedom and captivity, survival and sacrifice, love and who we can really trust.

The scenes in the medical facility feel claustrophobic, emotional and almost like a Big Brother type show where you don’t know anyone but are in forced proximity and have no idea why they are there. I really enjoyed this book and found it a real page-turner, I wanted to know what was going to happen the medical trial and would they survive. I’ve always been fascinated with clinical trials and what motivates people to volunteer when the risks can be so high. I really liked Neffy as a character – I loved her past relationships with her dad, mother, step-brother and even her octopus obsession.

I’d recommend this to people who like pandemic novels like Station Eleven or The Day of the Triffids.

“When a day that you happen to know is Wednesday starts off by sounding like Sunday, there is something seriously wrong somewhere.” So begins The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham, when a hospital patient called Bill wakes up after an eye operation to discover that during his recovery the planet has been invaded by plant-like aliens that have blinded most of the Earth’s population in an attempt to take over the world.
Similar events happen in the horror move 28 Days Later, when Cillian Murphy’s character, left for dead in a bed after a bicycle accident, wakes up fully recovered to discover that a zombie infestation has broken out and the hospital has been abandoned, and Claire Fuller continues the trope with The Memory of Animals, when our heroine Neffy emerges from a fever during a vaccination trial to a world decimated by a mutated virus.
What sets The Memory of Animals apart from The Day of the Triffids and 28 Days Later, is its more believable mundanity in what would happen in such a situation. Bill awakens to panic and hysteria, Cillian to scaries around every corner. Neffy is greeted by four other patients who have stayed put on the ward and have been organising themselves into a modicum of normality.
The virus too, though deadly, is avoidable by staying inside. It causes first swelling, then disorientation and confusion, before death. It’s horrible, but not exactly homicidal hydrangeas or rabid monsters. Its real horror lies in its familiarity; the novel begins with Neffy being admitted as a volunteer for the vaccination trial while the world tentatively goes on turning as normal as possible, which can’t help but bring up memories of our own pandemic.
This is an alternate world, possibly set a little bit into the future. It’s recognisable but for an experimental machine called the Revisitor that allows a handful of compatible candidates to re-live memories, of which Neffy happens to be one. By this device we witness more of her backstory, mainly her childhood summers spent on a Greek island with her father and his partner, where a passion for octopuses is unearthed and where she suffers her first loss of innocence.
Letters to a mysterious H also offer some insight into her history, from her struggles to bond with her mother, a relationship with someone called Justin and her dismissal in disgrace from her job as a marine biologist. These passages outline the vast differences between the world then and the world that she and her four companions are experiencing now, and the captivity that exists in both.
The Memory of Animals is at once a dystopian novel, speculative fiction that quietly explores the desperation and survivors’ guilt of those who have been spared falling victim to a contagion, and an exploration into complex relationships and how they branch out into unexpected aspects of life.
Neffy tends to make rash, emotional decisions led by her heart rather than her mind, and dealing with the consequences of them proves heart-rending and painful. We see through her memories experienced through the Revisitor her devotion to her charismatic, unreliable father from her early years in Greece up to a devastating incident that happens in San Francisco not long before the start of the book.
Then there is Justin, one of the great loves of her life, who she leaves abruptly in order to partake in the trial, just as the news about the mutation is breaking. Her moral compass is strong, tells her to sacrifice her own potential happiness for the greater good, but as the story continuesmnthe reasons for this are less noble and more personal than at first glance.
Claire Fuller’s prose is measured and astute; the peripheral characters are allowed growth and reasons for their motives, each one of them laid out as fully-formed, complex people who are neither good nor bad. Neffy is the driving force behind the narrative, that is really two split stories – that of what to do post-apocalypse when food becomes scarce and only one person is proven to be immune to the virus, and the story of a curious girl who becomes a woman consumed by the magnitude of every choice she makes.
A thoughtful, engaging novel, The Memory of Animals will leave you wanting more, particularly after the somewhat dissatisfying end.

4.5 stars

You never know what you’re going to get when you open up a Claire Fuller book, so versatile is she in her ideas and in the scope of her writing. What you are always guaranteed, though, is a compelling, immersive story and characters so boldly drawn, they live on in your imagination long after you finish reading.

And so it was with The Memory of Animals, which takes you on a disorienting journey into a dystopian, post-apocalyptic world ravaged by a mystery virus. Into the suffocating confines of a clinic undertaking a potentially life-saving drug trial.

At the center of the story is marine biologist Neffy, a young woman seeking redemption and a way to pay off her debts. When Neffy wakes after recovering from the virus, it is into an alien environment, where she is one of just five people left alive in the clinic, possibly in the country. What’s more, she’s the only one immune to the virus.

The narrative is divided into two strands: one following the group in the clinic, as its members jostle to assume preferred roles; and another following Neffy’s experiences with ‘Remembered Reality’ technology, which allows her to revisit scenes from her past. These two are interspersed with letters written by Neffy to ‘H’ the octopus.

The result is a riveting, thought-provoking story of loss, guilt and fear, of freedom versus captivity, of the group over the individual. As a reader, you live inside Neffy’s tortured mind, as she mulls suspicions about her fellow survivors and fights the conflict between her responsibilities in the present and her desire to spend more and more time in the past.

I loved Fuller’s exploration of group dynamics and the subtle parallels drawn between the fate of ‘H’ and that of the group. As always, she gives you a lot to unpack and consider, and it’s possibly not until you’ve done so that you fully appreciate what a brilliant piece of storytelling this is.

Sadly, this novel didn't work for me.

Claire Fuller is a great writer but The Memory of Animals, her fourth novel, felt to me like two different books mashed into one: on the one hand, a dystopian, pandemic, survivalist thriller about a group of young people on a vaccine trial, and a second book about a marine biologist obsessed with octopuses and her late father.

The two strands didn't gel together well, neither fitting neatly in with the other and the literary device used to merge the two stories, namely the Revisitor (a futuristic piece of technology designed to help the user revisit old memories) was rather clunky and awkwardly executed. The epistolary sections (letters addressed by Neffy to H, an octopus) were factual and interesting but a square peg in a round hole, in terms of their fit within the wider novel.

The first and final sections of the book were easily the most gripping - there's a 28 Days Later vibe to the last section in particular. The pacing in the middle section was incredibly slow, with a lot of time devoted to characters who I felt were ultimately not all that well realised (Leon, Yamiko, Rachel, Piper were all a little bland and interchangeable). The urgency of the final section redeemed the novel somewhat as does the lovely writing but I can't say that this is a book I'd readily recommend regrettably. 2.5/5 stars

*Many thanks to the author, the publisher @vikingbooks @penguinukbooks for the arc via @netgalley. The Memory of Animals was published on 20 April 2023. As always, this is an honest review.*

I was so hopeful for the penultimate part of the book, where everything tied in together.. but I’m afraid to say I was a little disappointed.

The beginning, fantastic gripping and relatable considering the recent pandemic we experienced globally. Easy to insert yourself to the storyline and Neffy is a likeable character. A lot of mystery surrounds her, and with the help of the sub plots/adjacent storyline with her letters and explanation of her strange family dynamic. You start to build her complete character.
I was entranced imagining the whole scenario and needed to know where it was going.

The middle of the book, dragged.. although at points there was a real spaghetti junction of how things were going to come together and the suspense was keeping me super invested.

Then the ending… nooo? Why have this detailed account and ordeal and connection with the past and life patterns and this octopus obsession. It’s like we got to the end and fast forwarded.
I don’t want to go into too much detail and spoil the plot for others.. but why not even a small chapter on the pregnancy or birth of the baby? Especially in the circumstances they were in. Rather than just add it in as a new character all of a sudden. A very important one at that.

It was like detail detail detail in the hospital and life swirling around that, and the end was like yeah yeah yeah dead the end.. or is it? And that just spoiled the whole build up for me.

This has a great premise and I really felt engaged within the dystopia. The eerie and atmospheric mood lingers well and balanced throughout the novel. The only thing that knocked it off-centre for me was the use of the memory machine, I feel like this wasn't necessary and made the plot needlessly sci-fi when the horrors of a pandemic (especially since leaving a real one) ate perfect alone. Great read and I love the cover!

When a pandemic hits Neffy signs up for a drug trial, to test a vaccine. She gets admitted to a ward, with a few other test subjects. When Neffy wakes up after her vaccine gave her some huge issues, she finds the world as she knows it is gone, and that the staff has left. Neffy, and a few others that remain on the ward have some tough choices to make, and have to keep safe from the virus, and the violent and possibly infected people outside.

This is more than just an exciting page-turner, it explores what it means to be human, and make the right decision in the face of huge trials.
Yes, this book features an octopus 🐙 I learned a lot about these fascinating creatures.

My 50 Word Review
I was totally immersed in this must-read pandemic novel from the beginning. Intense yet low-key and with story building timed to perfection its pertinence sent a shiver of recognition and possibility through me. Fear, choices, sacrifice, memories; what would we do, how would we act if the world fell apart?

Thank you for this book.

Imagine the Covid-19 pandemic turning into the Walking Dead S1.
Claire Fuller's Memory of Animals was a surprise. Admittingly I went into this with no knowledge of the plot.
Fuller's name is enough for me to be interested, and she didn't disappoint.
"Humans are useless at learning from their mistakes. We just have to keep making new plans."
A woman is volunteering for a vaccine trial against a new virus, "Dropsy", and is being kept in quarantine, together with 15 other volunteers.
Already after the first day something happens in the outside world. After a week it becomes clear that no one is coming back for the volunteers...
Reading this felt incredibly claustrophobic. With the memory of the lockdown fresh on the mind, Fuller's description of the situation is horrific. The feeling of unease reading this never left me, which is meant as a compliment. Only the letters and the Revisiting weren't my cup of tea. I felt like that could have been a book of its own. Definitely a recommendation, especially if you like Emily St John Mandel and Ling Ma.
Thanks for approving me this title.

I loved this book! What an unusual and refreshing read. The plot is really heavily focused on a great group of characters and the predicament they find themselves in. A pandemic has hit the USA and a small group of brave humans book in to a medical facility willing to be human Guinea Pigs for a vaccine. If you thought COVID created death and disaster this takes it up a notch. The characters are written so well. Each one stands out as really unique.

It looks at moral, ethical, psychological and emotional issues that arise for this group after events go very bad to say the least, It shows you how the best and worst can come out of the group when faced with fear of the unknown and questions of survival.

I enjoyed getting to know each character. It’s not a fast paced book but I read it cover to cover in 3 hours. Brilliant ending and a couple of reveals and twists I would never have guessed. It’s got some powerful emotional kicks and I honestly really enjoyed it. It is a solid 4 stars from me. Definitely recommended.

Neffy volunteers for a drug trial for a vaccine against the pandemic but what happens when the staff leave halfway through and the volunteers are stuck with no one else to turn to but each other. It switches timelines with flashbacks from earlier life to the present, an interesting viewpoint on what might have been.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for an advanced digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.