Fervour cover art

Fervour

 Preview
LIMITED TIME OFFER

3 months free
Try for £0.00
£8.99/mo thereafter. Renews automatically. Terms apply. Offer ends 31 July 2025 at 23:59 GMT.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for £8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.

Fervour

By: Toby Lloyd
Narrated by: Genevieve Gaunt
Try for £0.00

£8.99/mo after 3 months. Offer ends 31 July 2025 23:59 GMT. Cancel monthly.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

The Secret History meets Jewish horror meets Jonathan Safran Foer in this exciting debut novel about a Jewish family in contemporary London.

Hannah and Eric are a successful couple living in North London with their three children and Eric's father, Yosef, a survivor of the camps. They are devout Jews who believe in the literal truth of the Old Testament, all except for their youngest son, Tovyah.

The death of Yosef fractures the family's apparent harmony and has a disastrous effect on Elsie, the model daughter, who disappears for four days, plunging her parents and siblings into a living nightmare. When she returns, just as mysteriously as she left, she is strangely altered.

Witnessing the complete transformation of their daughter's personality and some increasingly hard-to-explain events, Hannah and Eric begin to suspect Elsie is under the influence of black magic while Tovyah, a brilliant university student, believes his sister is suffering a mental collapse caused by his parents' antiquated beliefs.

But who is right? And can the family be reconciled before tearing itself apart?

©2024 Toby Lloyd (P)2024 Hodder & Stoughton Limited Horror Jewish Psychological World Literature Scary Suspense

Critic reviews

Intriguing, propulsive and profoundly disturbing, this is a fearless look into the dark heart of family politics from a naturally gifted storyteller (Jonathan Coe, author of BOURNVILLE)
Fervour is the book we need now. Bracing, compassionate, wise, terrifying - this beautifully written novel will haunt your dreams. That is, if you can put it down long enough to get any sleep (Darin Strauss, author of MORE THAN IT HURTS YOU)
All stars
Most relevant  
This was a 5-star book until the lacklustre ending. Too many plot points left dangling.

Much left unresolved

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I had to listen in short bursts near the end as I didn't want the story to finish. As a Jew of East-European descent, I related to the family and religious content. I wonder if the printed book contains a reference section for the Hebrew words. I love stories about relationships and this book was full of them. The narrator was great, the story gripping, the writing fully engaged me.

A great listen delving into Judaism and family dysfunction, very well narrated

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I liked the insight into what seemed like another world which was fascinating. I hope he writes another book ingrained in information about Judaism and the real people living their lives. Beautiful language which seemed to flow through the story

Excellent story made more so by the reader

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.