Margaret Morgan’s debut novel, The Second Cure, is published by Penguin. I went to the launch put on by Newtown bookshop, Better Read than Dead, at Leadbelly Bar in Newtown. The launch speech was given by Kerryn Goldsworthy, who said she had read the book twice and could read it twice again. I know what she meant, as I came to write this review; for it is such a complex plot that I did not feel I could do it justice on one read alone, and after skimming through it for the second time, I still don’t.  I am not a lover of plot-driven novels, or novels structured by an idea or a thesis. On the other hand, I don’t want to slot this novel into a box of ‘political thriller’ or ‘dystopian fiction’ for it is both and more than that.

I would not normally choose to read a novel of this kind. But I did enjoy it; it kept me turning the pages, and I have great respect and admiration for the complex structure and the convincing unravelling of a scientific quest for a cure for a pandemic of  toxoplasmosis, which has mutated from the strain that is hosted by cats to one of plague proportions, hosted by humans. The virus is spreading through the world, and its effects are both devastating and in some ways, liberating. Charlie Zinn, a biologist, and her colleague, Juliette, have isolated the genome and are close to finding a cure.

Meantime, the world’s domestic, wild and feral feline population is disappearing. The emphasis of the novel is on the human, not the animal; not on the loss of an entire biological population, but on the divisions in Australia between the general population, the far left,  and the far right; the latter are represented by Song of Light New Apostolic Church. In Queensland, where church and state are not separate, their Pastor and leader, one Jack Effenburg, effects a leadership spill and becomes premier, then leads a secession from the Australian Republic to set up the independent nation, Capricornia. Jack and his wife Marion profess to be on the side of the light, and convince the population of this, but are in fact from the dark side.

The key characters in this tale are two scientists, Charlie, and her former partner in love and science, Shadrack; and Brigid, a fearless investigative reporter and sister of Charlie’s present partner (when the story opens) Richard, who is a musician and a painter. There is a love triangle at the centre of the plot, between Charlie, Richard and Shadrack.

The plot is so complex I won’t attempt a summary. There are riots, there is torture, there is cruelty, blood is shed. There is an underground movement against the cruel, secretive, hypocritical, repressive rule of Capricornia. Charlie, with Shadrack’s support, develops  a second cure for the mutated virus, which offers release from the toxic effects and the prospect of a shift from capitalism to a more humane, caring and concerned society. Empathy and connectedness versus power, cruelty and corruption.

I think this book will do very well. When I visited Better Read than Dead bookshop in Newtown, they were featuring it as their no. 1 bestseller, even before it was launched. The author has woven together strands of science, speculative fiction, romance, political thriller, and more, to create a convincing, disturbing and entertaining vision of how our society might develop when humans exploit biological mutations for power, and thinkers, scientists and artists refuse control and seek ways of living in a more connected, empathic world.