Cape Fever

Set in a fictional British colony in 1920, this striking psychological thriller from Davids (An Imperfect Blessing) finds a housemaid questioning her employer’s motives. It dismays Soraya Matas to learn that her new job cooking and cleaning for widowed British settler Alice Hattingh is live-in; Soraya had hoped to continue residing in the Muslim Quarter, where she could freely practice her religion. Soraya’s family needs the money, however, so she makes peace with only seeing her loved ones once a fortnight, and befriends the benevolent ghost of her predecessor. Incorrectly believing Soraya to be illiterate, Mrs. Hattingh offers to write and receive her correspondence with her fiancé, aspiring teacher Nour. Postage is expensive, so Soraya accepts, but when Mrs. Hattingh prevents Soraya from examining what she writes and receives in return, Soraya starts to fear the woman is taking liberties with the correspondence. Her misgivings multiply when Mrs. Hattingh thrice postpones Soraya’s next visit home. Taut plotting, electric prose, and Soraya’s paranoid first-person narration set this slim, atmospheric novel apart. Gothic touches combine with elements of magical realism and real-life historical horrors to forge a chilling fable that’s at once familiar and singular. It’s a stunner. Agent: Bonnie McKiernan, Wylie Agency. (Dec.)