Memoir set in MÁLAGA
Speculative thriller set in OXFORD (and Jamaica)
25th June 2025
The Cure by Eve Smith, speculative thriller set in Oxford (and Jamaica).
In her speculative fiction novel, The Cure, Eve Smith writes about the English city of Oxford in a dystopian future. The book’s subtitle “living forever can be lethal” neatly summarises the plot. It’s a two-handed narrative with two female protagonists. Dr Ruth Hammond is a scientific researcher who accidentally discovers a way to prolong healthy living while seeking a cure for the fatal childhood disease, progeria. This is the disease that killed her daughter, Lettie. As a result of her discovery, a novel therapy, Rejuve, is produced by her employer, Erik Grundleger, which prevents aging and death from disease. People receiving an annual Rejuve vaccine can routinely live healthily to 120, which is when they agree to transcend (or die). Ruth herself is 115 years of age and now works in administering doses of the therapy to patients. Mara is another scientist, but her role is very specialised; she words for Omnicide, an organisation that tries to detect people who are misusing this novel therapy to further prolong their lives. She also investigates illegal laboratories.
Ruth has foreseen the huge issues the Rejuve therapy will cause, such as overpopulation and pressure on the earth’s resources. Soon the rich and powerful are benefiting from Rejuve, and even illegally researching further ‘super rejuvenation’ therapies, while in stark contrast those in poorer countries are unable to access the benefits. This leads to international conflicts. Then the side effects of the new Superjuve therapy become apparent and there are problems. Those who can afford the Superjuve therapy have tendency to become psychotic and they have to hide for fear of arrest or reprisals. But the world’s power is increasingly in their hands and it is clear that Grundleger has to be stopped.
Eve Smith is masterful in her world-building. If you know Oxford, you will definitely recognise aspects of it in this story but much of the description of setting relies on the author’s imagination of how awful a world subject to climate change, nuclear war and over population could become. Despite these big themes, Smith also creates fascinating story arcs for her characters, making them believable and empathetic.
The author says that she writes about situations that scare her. She challenges us with questions, such as would you wish to live longer if you could live healthily for those extra decades? What rules will be necessary for the good of society and the planet as a whole? The premise of The Cure is challenging and it certainly deals with scary possibilities for the future of civilisation. Nevertheless it is an absolutely gripping read. Not to be missed!
Sue for the TripFiction Team
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