The unusual title for this novel derives from the author’s experience of it in Bali: ‘fogging’ is the routine spraying of pesticide to eradicate mosquitoes and other unwanted nasties such as cockroaches, from beachside resorts. In the novel, it’s the catalyst for a relationship breakdown…

Tom and Clara are 30-something academics living a life of delayed adolescence, taking their first holiday together in ten years though they can’t really afford it. At home, they’re still living in a ‘student-digs’ atmosphere of squalor, and it’s taken them both of them ages to get settled into steady employment. The issue of having children has been postponed, (though after they meet another couple at the resort, there are signs that Clara might want a child). (Horton doesn’t address the structural reasons for their situation i.e. insecure employment in the university sector. That’s not his focus.)

At first Tom resents Clara’s interest in this other family at the resort, then he bonds with them too. The days drift by in the claustrophobic heat, while Tom is plagued by his doubts and fears and petty jealousies. The novel is told entirely from his point of view, and from the outset it’s clear that he is a very troubled man. What seems like narcissism, endless self-questioning and a preoccupation with analysing everything and everything, are symptoms of his extreme anxiety. He has a panic attack on the plane despite using the strategies he’s been taught to control the anxiety....

To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2020/07/30/the-fogging-by-luke-horton/ ( )