Dee Andrews

When Duties Collide, How Do You Choose?

frontline medical works with patient in 1918 influenza pandemic

For fans of The Women by Kristin Hannah and The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue, The Fevered World is an inspiring story of a father and daughter—he a serious and scientific country doctor; she an audacious, young nurse—finding purpose and hope when their lives are devastated by the 1918 influenza pandemic.

On the Kansas prairie, as World War I rages in Europe, Dr. Lorne Miller confronts an invisible enemy, a flu-like illness swiftly killing otherwise healthy adults. Amid this medical mystery, his daughter Helen returns home, fresh from nursing school. As the infection spreads, Lorne makes an agonizing decision he will forever regret, and Helen, struggling between independence and family, defiantly joins the Army Nurse Corps and sails to Europe.

From America’s heartland to New York City’s Department of Health and field hospitals in France, battling on parallel frontlines, Lorne seeks answers in science, determined to develop a vaccine, while Helen faces the chaos of combat surgery and confusion of love. Both are tested by grief, politics, and the unrelenting demands of duty.

The Fevered World invites readers to remember what it means to survive when the world comes apart and to honor the quiet, stubborn beauty of piecing it back together. In echoing how people alter and endure, the novel offers a way to make sense of our own lived pandemic experience and abilities to heal and hope.

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“Not until we are lost, do we begin to find ourselves.”

—Henry David Thoreau

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historical novels 1918 influenza

When the Past Becomes the Present

#amreading· 1918 Influenza Pandemic

People who know I’ve written a historical novel set during the 1918 pandemic always comment that my timing is brilliant. I (very coincidently) finished revisions to my manuscript and began querying agents in 2020, when our own pandemic struck and our world shut down. Whether my timing is brilliant or not is yet to be determined. What I do know…
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Haskell County Kansas Origin 1918 Influenza Pandemic

Haskell County Kansas | Origin of 1918 Influenza Outbreak

1918 Influenza Pandemic· Kansas

Haskell County, Kansas is a place of plowed up prairie, violent storms, and stunning sunsets. Scientists hypothesize this remote, isolated place is where the 1918 influenza outbreak began. This sparsely populated corner of southwest Kansas experienced a boom in the 1880s. Farmers and ranchers arrived eager to claim the 160 acres promised by the Homestead Act. Settlers raised cattle, hogs,…
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why vaccines matter to this polio victim

Why Vaccines Matter: A Vital Legacy We Must Not Forget

1918 Influenza Pandemic· Medicine in WW1· Research· Vaccines

In writing my novel The Fevered World, I spent years immersed in the history of infectious disease and vaccine development. One of my protagonists, Dr. Lorne Miller, is a physician on the front lines of the 1918 influenza pandemic. Faced with rapid, unexplained deaths around him, he resolves to stop the spiraling spread by developing a vaccine. His efforts unfold in…
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Bottle Cove, Newfoundland

#amreading· Travel

Our first day on Newfoundland, surrounded by both Appalachian Mountains and rocks of ocean crust, cod au gratin, and the beauty of The Dog Stars by Peter Heller.

A Novel Soundtrack about a Ramblin’ Man

Hobos, Train Hoppers, Travelers

Music holds a profound place in storytelling, weaving emotions and atmosphere into every narrative thread, whether it’s the tension of a suspenseful beat or the serenity of a gentle melody. When I started writing this novel, On the Rails, my brother, who inspired the protagonist Cowboy, told me to listen to “Big Wheels in the Moonlight” by Dan Seals. He…
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Newfoundland Road Trip

#amreading· Travel

With time, the memories will fade—the excitement planning our road trip to Newfoundland, the first day, the first 691 miles across Colorado and Nebraska into Iowa, a ribbon of asphalt streaking across the heartland. We eased into the trip, staring out the windows, settling into our next six weeks.

On the Rails with Narrator Sam Elliott

Hobos, Train Hoppers, Travelers

Imagine listening to On the Rails with narrator Sam Elliott, his gravelly voice, with its rugged cadence and timeless charm, telling the story of my protagonist Cowboy, who, in his twenties, full of agitation and wanderlust, begins riding freight trains, seeking freedom and adventure but mostly finding depression and addiction. In my daydreams (when I need a break from editing weasel…
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