Febrile adjective \ˈfe-ˌbrī(-ə)l\
a: marked or caused by fever : feverish
“Rosa saw that today Magda was going to die, and at the same time a fearful joy ran in Rosa’s two palms, her fingers were on fire, she was astonished, febrile: Magda, in the sunlight, swaying on her pencil legs, was howling.”
The Shawl paragraph 10
I wasn’t sure but I thought the word was closely related to madness. She was instead feverish (not the sick kind). Rosa was overcome with great emotion and was greatly excited at Magda finally dying.
