Out of sight, out of mind.” It’s a perspective still relevant today, especially as the majority of Americans live in ignorance of the abuse Asian Americans undergo in this country. She acknowledges that the reason the American government imprisoned the Japanese is because “It was easier for the public to forget about the inhumane thing that was being done in their name. Meiko’s character becomes symbolic of the Japanese experience.

Nonetheless, Katsu’s careful research also sheds insight on contemporary topics, specifically the racism threatening Asian Americans during Covid-19. Half-Japanese and half-white, Aiko faces ostracism, and her exclusion mirrors that of Meiko, who is ostracized by other Japanese for marrying a white man. Aiko is a powerful, memorable character - a brave girl wise beyond her years. Meiko and Aiko’s life in Minidoka is on display, and the narrator carefully details not only the emotional and mental toll the camps presented for prisoners, but also the daily physical struggles they faced. It’s this subtle exploration of these historical elements that first captures a reader’s attention. The Fervor blends the best elements of a superb, epidemic-themed horror novel with the little-known history of the Fu-Go - Japanese fire balloons that eventually made their way to the American West Coast and the internment camps where Japanese Americans were held as prisoners. Meiko and Aiko’s struggle for survival becomes even stranger as they find enemies among those they thought were friends and friends in those they weren’t expecting to trust. However, a demon from the tales of Meiko’s childhood begins causing havoc, chaos, and death.

The government officials and doctors sent to investigate prove more threatening than the disease. As Meiko and Aiko struggle to maintain remnants of their old home and former lives in the decrepit camp, a mysterious illness spreads, first among the other prisoners and eventually outside the camp in areas far from Minidoka. Meiko’s husband, Jamie, is an Air Force pilot in the Pacific, but despite Meiko’s marriage and Aiko’s American-born status, Meiko and Aiko are Japanese and considered a threat to America.

In an isolated corner of Idaho, Meiko Briggs and her daughter, Aiko, yearn for their Seattle home after being sent to Minidoka, one of the internment camps. Set in 1944 and based on America’s painful, too frequently overlooked history of Japanese incarceration, The Fervorby Alma Katsu, is a new kind of horror novel.

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