Join us for a fascinating In Conversation event with debut author Margaret Morgan and Professor Michael Gillings. They will be discussing the science behind The Second Cure: symbiosis, parasites, evolution, synaesthesia and other curiosities of the brain.
WHEN: Wednesday 22 August 2018 at 6:30pm
WHERE: Harry Hartog Macquarie Bookshop, in Macquarie Centre
About The Second Cure
What if changes to the brain disrupted the very fabric of society? There are some parasites that do far more than merely take up residence in their host. Insinuating themselves into the brain, these parasites hijack the hosts’ minds as well as their bodies. In 2013 Margaret Morgan was studying parasitology, which sparked the questions for her debut novel – what would happen if humans were the primary host for such a parasite? How would this change our brain function? Would it change the way we vote, live and love? Born from a scientific ‘what if’ moment The Second Cure questions whether we, as a species, ever truly possess free will. As a pandemic races across the globe four women – a scientist, a journalist, a minister’s widow and a zealot – grapple with the destruction of their beliefs and their self-control. With the spread of the disease the balance between religion and the government disintegrates allowing corrupt individuals to grasp power. Drawing on the rise of right wing populism, and its appeal for certain personality types, The Second Cure depicts a near future where the growing divide between the left and the right fractures Australia as a country. Dark and compelling, this debut novel is a provocative study on power and impotence. Control the brain. Control the world...
