Sea Fever

“Inspired by on-the-ground research, Elsie Sze weaves and then untangles a series of knots in a plot worthy of its exotic locale: Kazakhstan! Sea Fever swept me away to a world of intrigue, a thrilling journey led by two characters whose unlikely pairing led me—in close pursuit—to the Aral Sea. It is a wonderful escape from the ordinary and a gateway to another part of the world.”

—Isabel Huggan, author of Belonging: Home Away from Home

“Elsie Sze tells an unforgettable and riveting story about the interconnectedness of human and ecological health and sickness, and the negative consequences of human attempts to dominate nature and other people. In reading this book, we are invited to listen to the death cries of what was once a vibrant, life-sustaining sea. Sze raises poignant questions not only about the past but also about the biggest issues confronting the human species today. Can we really imagine that we can vaccinate ourselves against the very ecological sicknesses that our industrialized military and medical systems are creating?”

—William F. Sullivan, MD, CCFP, PhD (Philosophy); Family Physician, St. Michael’s Hospital, University of Toronto; Incoming Joseph P. Kennedy Chair in Ethics, Kennedy Institute of Ethics, Georgetown University, Washington, DC

“Among the greatest environmental tragedies of our time, the death of the Aral Sea at the hands of man and a regime remains the main event of the region and the heartache of Kazakhstan to this day. Elsie Sze’s personal experiences, her deep cultural and historical insight, lend extraordinary authenticity to this wistful, but gripping, mystery set in modern Kazakhstan.”

—Aidar Kazybayev, CEO, AIFC Green Finance Centre, Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan