Severance

• Genre: Fiction; dystopian/satirical
• Originally Published: 2018
• Reading Level/Interest: College/Adult
• Structure/Length: 26 chapters; approximately 291 pages; approximately 9 hours, 52 minutes on audio
• Protagonist/Central Conflict: The central conflict in the story follows Candace Chen, a young woman who works for a Manhattan-based publishing company. After a pandemic known as Shen Fever sweeps the world, transforming people into mindless automatons, Candace is one of the few survivors in the city. She joins a group of survivors heading west, revisiting her past and confronting the haunting memories of her immigrant family. The novel explores themes of isolation, identity, consumerism, and the search for meaning in a post-apocalyptic world.
• Potential Sensitivity Issues: Pandemic; societal collapse; imprisonment and reproductive control; exploration of consumerism; elements of satire; immigration; racism; sexual content

Ling Ma, Author

• Bio: Born in 1983 in Sanming, China; Chinese American author and fiction writer; known for her ability to blend literary fiction with elements of satire and dystopia; explores themes of identity, displacement, and contemporary society.
• Awards: Kirkus Prize for Fiction in 2018

CENTRAL THEMES connected and noted throughout this Teaching Guide:

• The Prison of Memory
• Immigration and the “Severance” of Identity
• Identity and Consumption
• The Frustrated Search for Meaning in Work

STUDY OBJECTIVES: In accomplishing the components of this Teaching Guide, students will: