Quarantine (Jim Crace novel)

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For other uses see Quarantine (disambiguation)
Quarantine
First edition cover
Author Jim Crace
Country United Kingdom
Language English
Genre(s) Historical novel
Publisher Penguin Putnam
Released 1997
Media Type Print (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages 242 pp
ISBN ISBN 0-670-85697-5

Quarantine is a novel by Jim Crace. It was the winner of the 1997 Whitbread Novel Award, and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize for Fiction the same year.

[edit] Plot summary

Set in the Judean desert, 2000 years ago. It features 7 main characters:

  • Musa: a greedy trader, believed by the Galilean to be a manifestation of Satan
  • Miri: Musa's pregnant wife
  • Marta: fasting between dawn and dusk in an attempt to turn her barren womb fertile
  • Shim: a young traveller
  • Aphsa: fasting between dawn and dusk in an attempt to remove the cancer from his abdomen
  • Badu: believed to be deaf and mute; good at catching animals
  • The Galilean/Gally/Jesus: aiming to fast for 40 days and nights with divine help; plagued by religious/spiritual hallucinations/visions. Dies in the novel only to be seen during the end, risen.

[edit] Editions