Severance is a 2018 satirical science fiction novel by the Chinese-American author Ling Ma. It follows Candace Chen, an unfulfilled Bible product coordinator, before and after Shen Fever slowly obliterates global civilization. Severance explores themes of nostalgia, modern office culture, monotony, and intimate relationships. The novel, Ma's debut, won the 2018 Kirkus Prize for Fiction and was included on many prominent Best Books of 2018 lists.
Setting
Severance takes place in the United States in the 2010s, before and during a pandemic of Shen Fever, a fictional fungal infection originating in Shenzhen, China. Some people are inexplicably immune and try to survive during the slow apocalypse. People infected with Shen Fever repeat old routines compulsively, without consciousness and until death.
Plot
With a flashback style, the narrative follows Candace Chen before and during the Shen Fever pandemic. Before the pandemic, Candace drifts through New York before being given a job in designing elaborate variations of the Bible. As the pandemic spreads, Candace documents the final days of New York City on a blog called NY Ghost and is one of the final survivors to escape the city. She is in the early stages of pregnancy. A group of other survivors finds Candace near death in a New York taxi cab on the shoulder of a highway in Pennsylvania. The quasi-religious group, led by a former I.T. guy named Bob, is traveling towards "the Facility," which he promises to be safe. On the way there, they "stalk" houses for supplies, killing the infected people inside. They arrive to find that the Facility is an abandoned shopping mall in suburban Illinois. Candace and some of the other survivors struggle to make a new home there under Bob's tyrannical leadership.
Characters
Candace Chen: A young woman originally from Fuzhou, Fujian province, China, residing in New York when Shen Fever strikes. Employed at a publishing company called Spectra, Candace is the production assistant in the Bible department. She is also a photographer and secret creator of the NY Ghost blog.
Pre-pandemic
Jonathan: Candace's boyfriend for most of the five years she lives in New York City. Jonathan is a disillusioned free spirit, who temps and freelances for enough money to get by. He aspires to write fiction.
Ruifang Yang: Candace's mother. Worked as an accountant in China, before moving to the U.S. for her husband's graduate degree.
Zhigang Chen: Candace's father, an insurance analyst.
Jane: Candace's NYC roommate.
Blythe: a Spectra employee in the Art Books department.
Lane: Senior Product Coordinator in Art at Spectra.
Seth: Candace's boss, the Senior Product Coordinator of Gifts and Specialty at Spectra.
Manny: Doorman at Spectra.
Michael Reitman: CEO of Spectra.
Steven Reitman: an author with whom Candace hooks up. He helps her get the Spectra job through his connection with the CEO.
Carole: Human Resources at Spectra.
Delilah: a Spectra employee in the Art Books department.
Post-pandemic
Robert "Bob" Eric Reamer: A former I.T. guy who has become the ruthless, quasi-religious leader of the traveling survivor group.
Janelle Sasha Smith: A brave, thoughtful survivor who befriends Candace.
Adam Patrick Robinson: A member of the survivor group.
Evan Drew Marcher: One of the small subgroup of survivors which makes a pact to leave the Facility.
Rachel Sara Aberdeen: A member of the survivor group.
Genevieve Elyse Goodwin: A member of the survivor group.
Ashley Martin Piker: One of the small subgroup of survivors which makes a pact to leave the Facility.
Todd Henry Gaines: A member of the survivor group.
Reception
The New York Times' review stated that Severance, "offers blatant commentary on 'dizzying abundance' and unrelenting consumption, evolving into a semi-surreal sendup of a workplace and its utopia of rules. It was a New York Times Notable Book of 2018. NPR's Michael Schaub said, "A fierce debut from a writer with seemingly boundless imagination." A stunning, audacious book with a fresh take on both office politics and what the apocalypse might bring." The Chicago Tribune called it, "a gripping bildungsroman in the midst of an apocalypse." It was included on annual Best Book lists at Elle,Marie Claire,Refinery29,Buzzfeed,BookPage,Bookish,Mental Floss,Huffington Post,A.V. Club,Jezebel,and Vulture.Electric Literature included it on a list of possible winners for the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. BookPage called it, "astounding debut novel." Refinery29 included it on a list of Post-Apocalyptic Books Will Freak You Out, saying, "Ma creates a convincing portrait of a woman slightly disconnected from the world, even before the virus."
Awards
Severance was awarded the 2018 Kirkus Prize for Fiction and the 2019 NYPLYoung Lions Prize. It was a finalist for 2019 the PEN/Hemingway award.
