Book Review: Fever Season
By Eric Rosenhek
The 1919 Stanley Cup Final is remembered tragically. The five-game series between the Seattle Metropolitans and Montreal Canadiens was cancelled after several players and officials contracted the deadly Spanish influenza. This sad moment is the centre piece for Eric Zweig’s Fever Season.
Fever Season follows the life of David Saifert, a 13-year-old Montreal boy who becomes orphaned after his father dies during the First World War and the rest of his family succumb to the flu.
David’s only surviving relative is an uncle who lives in Seattle. As luck would have it, he manages to get a job with the Canadiens – something that resembles an assistant for the equipment manager – and travels with the team to Seattle with the hope of finding his long-lost relative.
Hockey is not the main focal point of the story. However, the sport has a strong metaphoric presence.
Hockey allows David to bond with his father before the war. It also allows him to make friends and provides a sense of comfort. More importantly, hockey gives David a chance to repair his life after the horrific loss of his family. In some ways, hockey is a form of survival for David.
Fever Season is a combination of fact and fiction. Zweig accurately merges a fictionalized story with real-life events. Members of the actual 1919 Canadiens team, including Newsy Lalonde, Georges Vezina and Joe Hall, the only player that passed away because of the flu during the cup final, have significant roles in the story.
Technically, Fever Season falls under the young adult category. But older readers outside this target market can still read this novel without feeling embarrassed. Zweig’s writing is straightforward and respectful to the reader. The ending is rushed and predictable, yet the overall presentation provides a polite interpretation of a specific historical moment.
Fever Season is written by Eric Zweig and published by Dundurn Press. For more information, please visit www.dundurn.com.
