Five Days of Fog

by Anna Freeman

London, December, 1952. At the beginning of what will come to be known as the Great Smog, Ruby Palmer waits to be released from prison.

At home her daughter, Florrie, also waits, knowing that the moment her mother returns she herself will face a choice: stay where she is, in the heart of her matriarchial and criminal family, or leave it all to make a safer, duller life with a decent young man. But what will she do if she's too crooked to go straight, and too good to go bad?

Over the next four days, as London grinds to a halt in impenetrable and poisonous fog, Florrie will have to find her own path and the courage to stumble along it.

Four Days of Fog follows the last days of a crumbling female gang in post-war London, in a fog so thick that you can't see your own feet. It's a story of family, of finding your way, and of deciphering a route through the greyest areas of morality.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Historical, Fiction, Crime, British Literature, Adult, Romance

368 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 15, 2018

About the author

Anna Freeman is a lecturer in Creative Writing at Bath Spa University as well as a multiple slam-winning performance poet who has appeared at festivals across Britain including Latitude and Glastonbury. She lives in Bristol. The Fair Fight is her first novel.

Reviews

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just the setting of the book is an excellent choice - the great smog of London in 1952 - straight away a sense of imminent danger, skulduggery and suffocation is evoked.

We meet Florrie Palmer, a seventeen year old girl born into a criminal gang run by women who are also her family, but she has fallen in love and wants to go straight - how will she tell them and how will they take it?
We are then introduced to the rest of her family:- her mother Ruby who has spent two years in prison and is due to be released and crowned queen of the family; her aunt Maggie, a loose cannon who has hooked up with Harry who heads up the men's gang in the same neighborhood; her Aunt Nell who has tried to stay away from crime but whose house has become a refuge for the gang and her son Ted who is Florrie's love interest.
Everyone knows everyone and they are drawn in together despite a complete mess of emotions and contradictory goals.
Add in an unknown grass who threatens the continuation of the gang, Ruby's illness and the relentless fog and lots of drama goes down!

This is a relentless ride through the fog where things are happening but it all feels a bit surreal and heightened by the terrible conditions. I can't quite explain how the author has woven the overwhelming cloying of the weather with the story but it is extremely well done.
Nothing here is straight forward and the story propels forwards to an interesting conclusion.

Loved this one. Historical fiction is fast becoming one of my favourite genres.

[fatma · Rating 2 out of 5]

"five days of fog" is right, because nothing in this book stands out in any way, shape, or form

This is easily the most vanilla, forgettable book I've read all year. Reader, if you're looking for something eerie and atmospheric, you will not find it here. That this novel is set during the Great Smog--the titular five days of fog that came over London in 1952--seems to promise a story that is exactly that--eerie and atmospheric--but in actuality the whole five days of fog concept turns out to be nothing more than a gimmick. The fog is a bit of a hindrance to the characters, sure; it slows them down and gets in their way, but at the end of the day the fog itself is all flash and no substance. For a book that's titled after the fog, you'd expect it to paint a more vivid image of that fog, and not just present it as a one-dimensional cardboard prop.

Aside from the atmosphere (or lack thereof), there's not much else to say about this book because it is so deeply boring in terms of character, plot, and writing. Five Days of Fog is so aggressively boring that its characters felt like they were bored by their own existence in the novel. I didn't think a book about a FEMALE GANG OF CRIMINALS could ever be boring, but here we are. Needless to say, Five Days of Fog was a huge disappointment, especially given that I absolutely loved Anna Freeman's first novel, The Fair Fight.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars!
This book was so damn interesting. A booktuber I follow described this story as being if Peaky Blinders were set in London and were females. As soon as she used Peaky Blinders to describe it I knew I had to add it to my TBR as I'm such a fan of the show.

This story takes place over the course of 5 days during the Great Smog, which occurred in London in December of 1952. It follows a female gang called the Cutters and, in particular, seventeen-year-old Florrie, whose mother, Ruby, the named "queen" of the gang, is due to be released from prison after a two-year stint. Florrie wants to go straight and leave the gang as she wants to marry Ted, who is not part of a gang. One of the rules of the Cutters is they can't marry "outside". The story builds around Florrie, torn between this life that she knows and the life that she wants, and her mother, Ruby, coming home from prison.

I adored this book for so many reasons. One, it's a different premise than anything I've read. I loved the idea of gangs in London in the 50's. It had that grimy, seedy, edge to it that I was hoping for. Also, the very fact that it focuses on a female gang just added to the color of this book because there aren't many stories told from that perspective. Just to note, the gang in the book is fictional but the author does note at the end of the story that the Cutters were loosely based on the Forty Thieves or the Forty Elephants as they were later called; a gang of female shoplifters from Elephant and Castle who operated between the 1890's and 1960's.

The second element I loved was the fact that the author set this story during the Great Smog. I felt that added so much dimension to the story and was a character all in itself. Throughout the whole story, the characters and events had to contend with the consuming fog and smog; you see how this hurt the characters at time and how it helped them at others.

Lastly, the characters were so rich and well-written. When I first started reading the book and was waiting for Ruby to be released from prison, I thought I was going to find her to be a rough, tough, fearful character and one I wasn't going to like. I couldn't have been more wrong. She definitely has all the gritty qualities of a gang 'queen' but the love she has for her family and her intelligence and street-smarts made her, for me, such a likable character. She was my favorite. Another favorite of mine was Ted, a hard-working, loving, self-sustained individual who I adored.

Great setting, great characters, great story and a great depiction of a tragic event (the Great Smog killed over 4000 Londoners), this was such a great read and I highly recommend it.

[Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's 1952 and the Cutters are the meanest girl gang in London. 17 year old Florrie wants to get out of the life but is finding it difficult due to her mother and aunt being in charge of the criminal enterprise. Taking place over a period of five days, in the midst of the worst case of smog in living memory, we see Florrie try to start afresh whilst dealing with her violently happy aunt and her mum coming home from prison. This was brilliantly written with some memorable characters and an interesting premise.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read December 2020
It was fine, I guess? Not what I wanted it to be though...

I wanted it to be more focussed on the group of women and them having a close bond instead of the fighting within the group. I would have preferred the conflict to have come more from the outside rather than within.

I also really didn’t care about Florrie & Ted’s romance. (Because 1. I didn’t need there to be a romance, 2. If there was going to be one a queer one would have fitted the book so much better & 3. I just really didn’t like Ted.)

[Abigail Tarttelin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fog descends on a London just out of wartime, a leadership feud stirs disquiet in a gang of female thieves, and the girl who might inherit the bloody crown falls in love with a good boy. But will she be allowed to walk away, or do all women who stand up for themselves have a price to pay? A cinematic, roguish, and utterly entertaining page-turner by the queen of feisty historical women. Goes down in one jewel-fisted slug.

[Rhian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I honestly wasn’t sure how I was going to feel about this book even when I was about a hundred pages in. It’s hard to go in without expectations, especially when you know the writer, and it’s SO different from The Fair Fight (which I ADORED)... I don’t know. It was good though, once I got into it and settled into the characters - who I did not HAVE to like, after all, at least until they got their shit together - I read in chunks as long as lunch breaks and commutes allowed! Definitely an interesting and unusual concept, handled well, pacy once the flow gets in although it takes its time to build up to that, but somewhat reminiscent of Rebecca, as in you don’t necessarily see how much the tension is rising until you’re right in the middle of it. And then god save your heart because you care too much and you’re not sure you can breathe properly in-between paragraphs.

[CenReads · Rating 3 out of 5]

Full of suspense. It makes a change that its females that are in criminal gangs rather than it being males all the time. It's almost who or what's going to win
Thank you to Orion Publishing Group and netgalley from giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest unbiased review.

[Elisha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably more like a 3.5 - it felt like she tried to fit in too many characters and too many subplots in a short book. I get that it was supposed to feel somewhat suffocating with the fog, but it just left some characters falling flat and plot lines being unresolved or rushed.
Great atmosphere though and it was clearly very well researched. Also who doesn't love a female gang?

[Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

‘Five Days of Fog’ by Anna Freeman about the queen of a female crime syndicate coming out of prison reminds me of Martina Cole’s books. It is 1952 and as Florrie Palmer waits for her mother Ruby to return home, she must make a decision about the direction of her own life. London remains in the grip of ruins from the war and Florrie is firmly embedded in the family gang, donning disguises to steal, feeling secure in the circle of women who support each other. But she also applies for a job as a telephonist, carefully practising her accent.
The action is framed by five days of fog, both physical and perceived. So dense is visibility that cars crash, chemicals cause lung infections and people are coughing up dirt. The fog offers opportunities for thieves but it also disguises the truth and lies told to each other by the gang as they face a turning point. Old lies are perpetuated, new lies told with a smile, some members are out for their own benefit; others are tired of the secrets and politicking, and just want to get back to what they do best. Freeman’s fog is based on the real Great Smog of 1952 when an anticyclone pushed down all the filth in the air from industry, motor vehicle fumes and smoke from coal fires; it was followed in 1956 by the Clean Air Act.
The Palmer women form the Cutters, a fictional women’s gang named for The New Cut, a London market where the first group of women, tired of poverty and scrubbing floors, started shoplifting. When queen Ruby comes out of jail on early release, she has TB. As jostling begins in anticipation of the crowning of a new queen, there is a potentially bigger problem risking the survival of the Cutters and the male gang, the Goddens [the Palmer girls marry Godden boys, keeping the two gangs linked by DNA]; someone is grassing them up to the police. Trust is fractured, suspicious run rife, knives are carried, somewhere there is a gun. The story is told from multiple viewpoints – Florrie, Ruby, Nell, Ted – possibly too many. Is Florrie the grass? After all, she has dreams of going straight and marrying Nell’s son Ted, her quiet second cousin. If Ruby dies, Florrie will be in line to take over as queen. Or will Ruby’s blustering be-ringed sister Maggie take over? What about Ada, Ruby’s elderly aunt? Or is Harry Godden the queenmaker? Florrie and Ted are drawn into the gang by the family’s tentacles that keep the gang strong, safe and in the family.
I finished this book with mixed feelings. I admire the writing but don’t like any of the women and don’t feel convinced by the world created, though I can’t pin down why. I continued reading through the jumble of family background and names in the first half because I was curious about the identity of the grass. For me, the book took off in the second half as Nell’s story ignites. But the star of this book for me is Freeman’s masterful use of the fog.
If you are a fan of Freeman’s debut, The Fair Fight, be prepared for something completely different.
Read more of my book reviews at http://www.sandradanby.com/book-revie...

[Chloe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in the 1950s London amidst the Great Fog outbreak, Five Days of Fog introduces the reader to the world of Girl Gangs. Where family loyalty is crucial, what happens when the heir to the gang falls in love and questions her place?

Predicted to be the female version of Peaky Blinders, Five Days of Fog has substantial shoes to fill. But it does! The story is interesting and readable. With relatable characters, we witness just what makes a Girl Gang. With struggling without a leader in the times of economic hardship; a new era of female independence, and a threat to the very survival of the gang, Freeman has depicted a gang standing on the threshold of a new world with new issues.

One of these new issues is Florrie's romance with her cousin. As the protagonist, we learn how Florrie is balancing the girl-gang psyche she was raised with and the desire to be 'good' and leave the gang life behind. Freeman creates a character with occasional depth. For instance, it is understandable that she wants to leave the life behind and her occasionally misstep back into the lifestyle is believable. However, Florrie as the leader of the new generation of the gang did not seem strong enough to make substantial decisions. She stood on the line between the gang and being good, and I felt that she never made her decision. I wanted her to be more assertive with her family and gang members but instead, we are given a girl who defers to her aunt and only steps into the role of leader when it is completely necessary.

Nevertheless, Freeman did create characters that were believable and successfully portrayed their dilemmas. With a prison storyline, and the unknown threat the gang faces, we are introduced to multiple characters each with their personalities and POVs. It is within these POVs that the story is embellished. We understand the flaws of the characters and decisions they have to make. After all, in a gang, you cannot seem weak and vulnerable and this is a topic Freeman successfully demonstrates. The characters, therefore, seem to split the book in half. If we take the plot of the Girl Gang, we get a group of women who are fighting for what they want in a man's world. Their crimes do seem petty in comparison to their male equivalents, but as an identity, the women are strong and believable. Now, if we examine the romantic element of the story, then we get the weaker characters who do not seem able to form a decision. Perhaps this is a choice Freeman aimed for, to show that Florrie is still young and is expected to lead the life of an experienced gang leader when all she wants is to be happy. Florrie's actions, however, make her seem weak and as a result, the storyline too. For a book that is written to predominately be a romance novel, the romantic elements do not balance with the gang plot.

I must also address the romance between cousins. I fear this will split the audience and become an issue for many people. When I chose to forget they were technically cousins, then the romance became more pleasant and occasionally enjoyable. Freeman did depict young love between teenagers who are struggling to find their place in the new world. We experience the difficulties they have as a couple and although their relationship did seem rushed (as evident by the lack of knowledge they had of each other) I think it did have a foundation.

There is no epilogue for the book and this is a major flaw to the story. As readers, we are left questioning just what happens to the gang and the characters. Freeman leaves the story open and I think this will split opinion. I like my stories to be neatly tied up with no open questions and because Five Days of Fog does not fill this premise, I felt unsatisfied when I closed the book. Thus a drop of a star.

Overall, Five Days of Fog is a good depiction of female gangs with a storyline that represents London in the 1950s. There are extremely vivid details of the fog and the challenges it brought, as well as economic hardship accurately portrayed. Questionable romance aside, Five Days of Fog is a good read perfect for fans of Peaky Blinders, the historical genre, and Girl Gangs.

[Kali Napier · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was so good. Told from multiple perspectives of a bunch of entangled characters who fail to see each other clearly amid the five days of the Great Smog in London in 1952. Florrie Palmer is the main character, 17 and being groomed to be the queen of the Cutters, an all-female gang. The problem is the gang has rules about marrying 'outside'. When her mum Ruby, the current queen is let out of Holloway, she has ways and means of ensuring loyalty. Florrie lives with her mum's cousin Ness who is on the periphery betwixt and between the nefarious gang world of her family, trying to have a respectable life for her son. But of course, the tendrils that tie together the Cutters and the Godden Boys wrap themselves tightly about each character's neck. And someone is a grass.
From the very first page I was hooked, and was turning pages furiously until the midway point when I had to walk away, horrified by what was being set-up, my chest squeezed tight for one or more of the characters. Thankfully, Freeman is a master storyteller and when I came back to it, I was in safe hands, satisfied by all the threads until the last page. So much atmosphere, gritty immersion, and fantastic individual voices.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in 1952 this book covers just 5 days of the time an almighty smog descends on London. Based on the real-life air-pollution event of that year, when an anticyclone pushed down all the smoke and pollution, creating a dangerous and poisonous smog. Severely reducing visibility and harming to health for many.
It follows The Cutter family a gang of criminals living in London. The focus is on the women, all strong and larger than life, living within a family with a strong hierarchy.
Ruby the current head of the gang is due to be released from prison but is in poor health. Her daughter awaits her return, longing to be with her mum again, but struggling with her part within this family of criminals. In love with a second cousin who has either chose to ignore all that goes on or has miraculously avoided it, she is planning her ‘escape’. But no one can ever truly leave and get away with it.

A great story of the extended family of a criminal gang of women living their extraordinary lives. Not only hiding behind the smog but also hiding secrets from each other.

[Linsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this! It was such an addicting read! I also love how Anna Freeman plays with expectations. Every time I think a character will die she lets them live. I loved this family drama with badass criminal women. I loved how most of the characters were morally ambiguous. I especially loved Ruby and Maggie. So much love for each other but they were also terrible people in many ways. The parts when Ruby thought about her motherly love for Florrie made me cry. Very touching.

And all the historical details! So good! I loved being in this world with the oppressive fog. The bomb site next door. Everyone still broken from the war. The world of these gangs was so small and oppressive; the fog was a great symbolism of this. Oh, and Teddy! So sweet. I was really rooting for him and Florrie ❤️

In some ways, this reminded me of The Night Watch and I think I liked this just a little better, even if there were no LGBT characters. This book makes me want to read The Fair Fight again!

[Helen Peachey · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is London in 1952, Ruby is waiting to be released from prison and the fog is beginning to thicken. Ruby is returning to become Queen of the Cutters Gang a group of women engaged in shoplifting and other crimes. Whilst Ruby has been away there has been a growing power struggle, tension with the Godden Boys and concern over Ruby’s daughter Florrie and her relationship with the innocent Ted. Ruby, with failing health has to sort all this and ensure the strength of The Palmer family. The narrative is gripping, the reader is in attendance in every scene, you can feel the menace, you can taste the fog. Excellent.

[Louise · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not sure what's more menacing... a group of criminal women,or the poisonous for descending on London.
There's an underlying tension to the whole book,mainly I think as it feels like a count down... you know the story is told in those five days.
There is nothing worse than a bunch of women hell bent on finding who is harassing them up to the police,and it felt like violence was never far away.
The book kept pace brilliantly all the way through,weaving all the characters together,and surprising me who the grass actually was.
Good stuff.

[BrianC75 · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of those books which draws you in enough to keep reading but does not capture you. The thing I found most novel was the 'fog' itself. I am old enough to have experienced the smog conditions caused by millions of coal fires belching out smoke in a large city (Belfast). It really could be grim. Historical setting was good.
The novel starts with the fog's arrival and ends with it's departure. I found the characters and their relationships and dialogue unconvincing - something like an Eastenders episode but with more menace.
Unconvinced.

[Marguerite Kaye]

I really wanted to enjoy this one, which was Peaky Blinders starring women, but it didn't work for me. I liked the set up, I liked the time period and the ambiance, but my big issue was with the two main characters Florrie and Ted. I found both tedious, I didn't believe they would have fallen for each other, and I simply couldn't invest in them. I thought the other characters, the Cutters, were really well drawn and I was intrigued by Ruby, but not enough to keep going with the story. So this was a DNF for me, I'm afraid.

[Elle Jay Bee · Rating 2 out of 5]

I struggled, I got to about page 50 and gave up. I thought it was atmospheric, as far as I got, but I just didn’t care for any of the characters and didn’t give two hoots about what happened to any of them. I picked the book up again after a week or so and worked my way through it to the end but I have nothing more to add in a review. Atmospheric, none of the characters grabbed me. It just felt like a series of events with which I felt no emotional involvement, but the descriptions of the fog were convincing.

[Zoe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks to Orion Publishing Group for this review copy in exchange for honest review.

Anna FReeman is a master of her craft. To make this a unique, eye opening, and action packed novel for a five day period. Loved the characters, the sense of being in the fog it was so well described, and the high fever pitch of suspense.

[Sarah Faichney · Rating 5 out of 5]

A compulsive read. “Five Days Of Fog” is a vividly told tale of the antics of a female criminal gang during the Great Smog of London. The characters are vibrant and relatable, and the plot unfolds beautifully. Thoroughly enjoyed it! The Author’s Note at the end is extremely interesting, detailing additional resources used in the course of her clearly extensive and meticulous research.

[Bernice · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Story takes place over the five days of the great smog of London in 1952. It’s based on the true story of an all female crime syndicate operating at the time. An original and entertaining read, with an engaging protagonist: Florrie, despite being the daughter of the gang’s reigning queen, has a yearning to go straight.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wanted to enjoy this much more than I did. It's set in 1950s London during the smog but that is not especially fundamental to the story. Simply put it's about a gang of women criminals and the events over 5 days which come to a head on the last day. Enjoyable but not 'a can't put it down 'book for me.

[Joanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book however I did find myself struggling to be interested in some chapters. It is really well written though and the characters are interesting. I wish the ending was different as I didn’t really feel like it gave enough closure

[Jamie Horan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good story, captures claustrophobia of the smog very well.

[Kat · Rating 3 out of 5]

An unremarkable historical fiction about a family of grifters in London during the great fog.

[Sarah Jordan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read it in the last year and can't really remember anything about the characters - says a lot!

[Jo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would love to have researched this novel - so interesting!

[Jane Garner · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a rollicking good read. Female shoplifting gangs and a real slice of social history using the 1952 Great fog in London as backdrop.

[Adrian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gang warfare in 50s London. I liked this one, nice fast pace, interesting characters and a real sense of place