The Fogging

by Luke Horton

A compelling tale of the slow disintegration of a relationship and the unravelling of a man.

Tom and Clara are two struggling academics in their mid-thirties, who decide to take their first holiday in ten years. On the flight over to Indonesia, Tom experiences a debilitating panic attack, something he hasn’t had in a long time, which he keeps hidden from Clara. At the resort, they meet Madeleine, a charismatic French woman, her Australian partner, Jeremy, and five-year-old son, Ollie, and the two couples strike up an easy friendship. The holiday starts to look up, even to Tom, who is struggling to get out of his own head. But when Clara and Madeleine become trapped in the maze-like grounds of the hotel during ‘the fogging’ — a routine spraying of pesticide — the dynamics suddenly shift between Tom and Clara, and the atmosphere of the holiday darkens.

Told with equal parts compassion and irony, and brimming with observations that charm, illuminate, and devastate, The Fogging dives deep into what it means to be strong when your foundation is built on sand.

Genres: Fiction, Australia

240 pages, Paperback

First published July 2, 2020

Reviews

[Deb Omnivorous Reader]

An aimless, apparently purposeless narrative, weak plot (which is generous; I honestly doubt there even was one) and wishy-washy boring characters. The writing is completely descriptive and it does that well, so I am sure that it will have it's own audience but might be better suited to people who enjoy books with no narrative and unlikable characters.

Don't read this if you don't like spoilers, I don't even think you CAN spoiler something this vapid, but if you think you will care, don't keep reading.

The third person narrative is so detached that it is impossible to form attachment to the people or empathy with their incidents; even they do not seem to have any empathy with anything, so why should I? I find never-ending descriptive writing with no point tedious, so I found Tom and Clair a complete waste of time. Since none of it seemed real, it seems spurious to point out that Tom and Clair have the most dysfunctional relationship ever described. They are together (kind of) because they once lived together in a share house and never quite stopped. They don't talk, communicate, like each other or have anything even approaching a relationship. Since this is the main thing Tom thinks about, it makes for very dull descriptions. Clair is pretty horrible, but so is Tom and neither seem real.

Tom and Clair go to Bali. That is a good solid Aussie tradition, so ok. But Tom has massive anxiety about everything, starting with flying, including the heat and neither of them like the beach. Going to Bali is just *why*.

Around page 120 (of nothing at all happening) we hear about Tom's anxiety when he became a sessional teacher. This should have been interesting, as I am a sessional teacher, but it was not and I started skim reading. Once you start skim reading, it is hard to stop.

Then we reached 'The fogging' episode the book is named after, it is a couple of pages worth of Clara and her holiday buddy having hysterics over the fact that the resort sprays for insects. How is this allegedly intelligent, academic woman completely oblivious to the fact that this happens all the time in Australia? I mean, come on! She is meant to be from the Gold Coast (Brisbane, Redlands Bay and GC spray for mozzies) and she is NOT meant to be an idiot.

Then there is the hinted fact that the hole in the universe that is Clara may be pregnant. In a relationship where kids have apparently NEVER even been discussed (as if), at least that is what she tells her travel buddy, who assumes Tom knows, though he is too dumb to notice it being discussed in front of him...

If the fogging is meant to be the big deal, that may/may not have ended a pregnancy that may/may not have been real, then why is no one discussing the elephant in the room of the (maybe) preggers Clair ordering cocktails each night? No, don't tell me she didn't drink them Tom, because their taste is described and laughed about. Taste is a function of drinking, in this case.

The book stopped with Clara vanishing from a hotel room. I care about that as little as Tom seemed to.

This review is essential, I will forget this book soon, hell, I was practically forgetting ti while reading. Future Deborah needs to never pick it up again.

[Jules]

Don’t know about this one. Lots of people, (including authors of books I love) seem to be big fans but I think I’ve missed something. I got offside with the protagonist pretty early on when he described his partner’s appearance, which can basically be summarized as “kind of ugly, but fuckable” and then proceeded to wonder how he might have sex with a woman resembling a porn actor and who he didn’t love, suggesting a woman can’t be both loved and a sex worker. Not great.

This book is a deeply interior narrative, and maybe because I am such an anxious person anyway, I just found it tedious and stressful. I would have preferred to be inside almost any other character’s head - Tom isn’t a very nice person so I didn’t have a lot of empathy for him. I just wanted to give him a good talking to, sort his life out and send him on his way.

I also didn’t love the writing: at no point did I think it was beautiful or want to reread a phrase as I often do, in fact it felt quite clinical sometimes and needlessly wordy at others. Reminded me for this reason of The Adversary. Both authors teach writing and both books are debut novels so maybe there’s something in that.

[Michael Livingston]

A smart and insightful look at a relationship that's quietly crumbling over a week or so in Bali. The writing is smooth and entertaining, and the deeply flawed main character is painfully well drawn. A really great debut.

[Ronnie]

Luke Horton’s debut novel is restrained, perceptive, slippery, tender. The Fogging astutely charts the solipsistic emotional terrain of a fracturing relationship. It is an unsettling and subtle and ultimately devastating reading experience.

[booksweread]

Can’t decide if it’s 2 or 2.5 stars.


This was a tough read. It’s an intense interior narrative from a male protagonist with anxiety issues and weird failing relationship.
It hurt my head and triggered my own anxiety being in his head, and he just came across as not a nice guy.
I truly don’t know how to review this, so I’m going straight down the middle.
I can see how many people would enjoy it, the detailed descriptive writing. I guess it is an important story to tell, and it made some kind of impact on me, just not one I’m entirely comfortable with.

Thanks to Scribe and Better Reading for a copy to review.

[Zora]

A depressing, compulsive read about the crumbling relationship of two thirty something precarious academics on holiday in Bali. Told from the perspective of Tom, an anxiety-ridden, self-involved, hypersensitive, insensitive and utterly convincing character, The Fogging made me squirm with recognition at Luke Horton's depiction of a relationship in stasis and of mid-thirties drift. The five pages or so about Tom's academic career, such as it is, were brutal. As a sustained mood, The Fogging is a strikingly assured first novel. I read most of it in a day, partly to get its weight off of me.

[Scribe Publications]

Claustrophobic and vertiginous … an unshrinking and skilfully drawn portrait of a decaying relationship. In restrained prose, Horton illuminates the darker edges of masculinity. His is a frequency finely tuned to silences, gaps of language and meaning, things left unsaid — and their cumulative weight. Like a brewing storm on an oppressive summer day, The Fogging is quiet but assured, building towards the thunderclap of its final pages.
Jennifer Down, author of Our Magic Hour

The Fogging is disquieting, compelling, and scrupulously observed, exploring themes of mental illness, interconnectedness, and selfhood. Horton observes his characters with a clear and compassionate eye, rendering his protagonist’s utter humanity and chronic isolation with stark tenderness and an honesty that moves.
Laura McPhee-Browne, author of Cherry Beach

I loved The Fogging. It’s such a finely controlled novel, so filled with creeping dread and yet so humane in its attention to psychological detail — those subtle doubts and delusions upon which relationships are built — that I could not look away. It raises the quiet inadequacies of ordinary life to the level of grand tragedy.
Miles Allinson, author of Fever of Animals

Unsettling and dreamlike … humorous and yet lingeringly sad. We find ourselves so deeply buried alongside Tom in his introspection, his comic yet touching attempts at self- knowledge, that when the revelation of his misinterpretation of his own relationship arrives, the shock is a kick to the gut.
Peggy Frew, author of Hope Farm and Islands

In this quiet, acute, and often painful book, the peculiarities of 21st-century love and adulthood are evoked stealthily, but all the more forcefully, thanks to Horton’s forensic and poetic approach to the subject.
Shaun Prescott, author of The Town

Luke Horton’s writing is sustained, accomplished, and full of insight. The Fogging is haunting in its familiarity, his characters pervasive in their unwillingness to truly connect, with one another and with themselves.
Anna Krien, author of Night Games and Act of Grace

Much of the pleasure of reading the novel comes from how Horton manages to distil complex social machinations into a few well-crafted sentences, summoning whole lives in brief set pieces from the couple’s various destination adventures … This is a gripping, subtle psychological tragedy for readers who enjoy unconventional travel literature with a focus on male personal identity, such as Miles Allinson’s Fever of Animals or Ben Lerner’s Leaving the Atocha Station.
David Little, Books+Publishing

The Fogging is an intensely introspective debut.
Bec Kavanagh, The Age

Horton’s observational prose is crisp and evocative, evoking both compassion for and frustration with its blinkered narrator. This is a devastating exploration of a relationship that seems solid until close inspection reveals a plethora of hairline cracks, spawned by unquestioning inattention and a persistent assumption that everything will somehow work out.
Jo Case, InDaily

Luke Horton … is a musician with serious fiction-writing chops.
Louise Swinn, The Saturday Paper

A book about a relationship which features a male protagonist who is essentially a flawed individual with anxiety issues seems timely and welcome.
Phil Brown, The Courier Mail

The Fogging, a remarkably assured début, is bold and striking in its approach and voice. Horton has great control over his characters and their perspectives; he unfurls the narrative slowly and with considerable subtlety … The book is a portrait of indecision and inarticulateness, and the havoc they can wreak, however quietly and unintentionally, upon a life.
Fiona Wright, Australian Book Review

The portrayal of tension is spot on in this book, of particular note is Horton’s rendering of the insidious impacts of anxiety. Where anxiety doesn’t draw attention to itself, where a panic attack can be hidden, it can still be quietly destructive. The sense of dread is sustained through the novel, everything Tom fears may well come to fruition in a self-fulfilling prophecy. Minor sins – avoidance, silence, overthinking, unkind thinking – start to pile up into calamity. Horton traces this quiet destruction with great insight, and empathy. 4.5 STARS
Erin Stewart, ArtsHub

Utterly addictive.
Julie Rieden, Australian Women’s Weekly

The Fogging is a masterfully subtle character study that recalls the slow-burn psychological payoffs of Patricia Highsmith novels … Especially poignant in the gladiatorial grappling for position that hides within everyday conversation, which Horton examines with forensic precision. FOUR STARS
Doug Wallen, The Big Issue

A deeply enthralling, deft gem of a book.
Fiona Wright, The Guardian

[Amber]

Hate to be harsh but I couldn’t see the point of this book , what was the author trying to achieve ? One dimensional characters and a description of Balinese cheap eats did nothing for me

[Jennifer (JC-S)]

‘They took the evening flight, so the plane was full of people trying to party the six hours over.’

A couple go on a holiday to Bali. It is the first holiday that Tom and Clara have taken for ten years. They are both struggling academics, drifting through life. On the flight, Tom suffers a panic attack, which he keeps hidden (somehow) from Clara. Tom and Clara establish a routine once they arrive at the resort: Tom stays in his head as much as he can while Clara engages more with their surroundings. But when Tom and Clara meet Madeleine, her partner Jeremy and their five-year-old son Ollie, the holiday changes shape. Tom seems to become more engaged, but is he? The holiday drifts, in a vaguely comfortable way towards its end. But then a routine event changes everything.

‘The first thing he knew about it was the sound.’

The fogging is a routine spraying of insecticide around the resort. Clara and Madeleine are caught in the grounds: they had not been alerted to the spraying and neither is happy. This event propels Clara into action. Tom is surprised, but should he be?

What an intriguing story. Tom is almost exclusively focussed on his actions and reactions, and we only have his point of view. It seems clear that Tom does not pick up on some of the signals Clara is sending. Tom seems stuck between a past he cannot change and a future he cannot envisage. And Clara? The fogging gives her an impetus for change that I doubt Tom will ever understand.

I felt sorry for Tom: crippled by anxiety and living within its confines. I wondered what Clara would do next, and how either of them would remember this holiday. The location, beautiful as it may be, hardly features in Tom’s perception. He could have been anywhere: anxious and trying to tightly structure his interactions.

This is Mr Horton's debut novel, and it is impressive. Highly recommended.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

[Stephanie]

Now this book was just plain old bad. The Fogging is basically the inner monologue of a middle aged whiny baby man. In the book, Tom and his partner, Clara, go on a trip to Bali for their first holiday in over ten years. In summary, they meet some people, Tom reflects on the past, Clara acts strangely, insecticides are sprayed, people stop talking to one another, and Tom gets confused. Blah! Probably the worst part is when Horton adds in all these little side bits that add absolutely no value to the story line. I would feel bad about this review, but I did spend a couple hours of my life with this book so I feel like honesty is warranted.

[Charlotte Ingham]

Very disappointing read. I had high expectations of this book, hoping it would be insightful on anxiety disorders and the like. Unfortunately, it was only good to send me to sleep. It was tediously slow, lacked any clear storyline, and outlined events in such a dragged out way that any meaning to them seemed totally lost. The main character is hard to warm to, and the book just meanders on without any seeming destination.

[Amanda]

I read this after reading quite a good review but found it extremely disappointing as it was not what I was expecting. I thought it was well written if you enjoy a book with little dialogue between characters and a lot a description. I just couldn’t relate or show any sympathy toward any of the characters, especially Tom and thought the fogging would count for a majority of the story but was only mentioned in a chapter.

[Sylvia]

If this book has a point, I have absolutely no idea what it is. The characters are cardboard caricatures and there is no real storyline. I kept reading because I felt something had to happen soon that made it worthwhile but I never found it.

[Cass Moriarty]

I’ve read a number of books recently that are quiet and introspective, where nothing much happens and the focus is on the characters and their existential wonderings. The Fogging (Scribe 2020), by Luke Horton, is another such novel. If you enjoyed The Adversary or The Inland Sea, then The Fogging will appeal.
Told from the perspective of Tom, an anxiety-ridden, struggling, mid-thirties academic, the story is ostensibly about his holiday in Bali with his partner, Clara. After travelling frequently together when they were younger, this is their first vacation in ten years. Tom experiences a debilitating panic attack on the plane on the way over and much of the novel is given to the detailed and compelling exploration of the physical and emotional feelings and symptoms that precede and accompany his anxiety, and – ironically – his constant anxious ruminations about experiencing anxiety. This aspect seemed very authentic, as if the author writes with some insight. Once in Bali, the couple meet French woman Madeleine, her Australian partner Jeremy and their son, Ollie, and the two couples strike up a rather intense friendship.
My main criticism of this novel is the way it has been marketed. The blurb promises something of a mystery, with both the panic attacks ‘hidden from Clara’ and also ‘… when Clara and Madeleine become trapped in the maze-like grounds of the hotel during ‘the fogging’ … the atmosphere of the holiday darkens.’ Actually, the fogging is a fairly minor aspect of the book and nobody is trapped anywhere. It annoys me when the blurb depicts the book in a disingenuous way because you go into it expecting a certain kind of story. In this case, I kept thinking that ‘something else’ was going to happen, until I reached almost the end and realised that it was not building towards some imagined drama / mystery / thriller scenario.
The disappointing thing about this is that had the promo been more accurate, I would’ve gone into the book knowing what to expect. What this novel does deliver is an unsettling and disturbing examination of the unravelling of Tom and Clara’s relationship, and also Tom himself. (Although Tom and Clara never seem to really talk deeply enough to thoroughly unpack their difficulties.) The chapters are dedicated to the study of their union – every nuanced comment, every double-edged behaviour, everything said or not said, the small things they choose to do and how they choose to do them. And for Tom, also, it is an eye-opening account of anxiety and panic attacks, although certainly his experience could not be said to be a universal one. I didn’t like Tom and I found his descriptions and thoughts about Clara particularly unpleasant.
The novel is intimate and poignant, at times funny; it is a compassionate and clearly observed view of the nature of relationships and the battles that play out in the course of a long-running war; it is also a study of the battles of our own minds and psyches.
It is a novel that chronicles all the minutiae of daily living and sets them out dispassionately for the reader to interpret. I do understand that the fogging is a kind of metaphor, and I do appreciate the cruel twist at the end of the story, one that makes you want to re-read from the beginning to see what clues you missed the first time around. But I would have liked less introspection and more plot, or at least a more complex analysis or interpretation of the unravelling. As always, this is only my opinion and perhaps I’m not the target market. I’m sure that for some readers, an extraordinary exploration of the complexities of a failing relationship will be exactly the right read at the right time.

[Sonia Nair]

The Fogging adroitly captures the sensation of crippling anxiety, the unravelling of friendship groups in one’s 20s, the feeling of being around others and divulging bits of yourself, the slow unravelling of a relationship, white guilt arising from the transactional, exploitative relationships with service staff in third-world countries, and disenchantment with academia. The various manifestations of Tom's anxiety are so expertly rendered they're exceedingly hard to read. This is a claustrophobic novel in many ways, as readers only ever get a glimpse into what's happening – at the hotel, in Tom's relationship with Clara, in his relationships with the people around him – through Tom's viewpoint.

[Hayley (hayleys.little.library)]

Unfortunately, 'The Fogging' by Luke Horton fell flat for me. I think it was a case of the synopsis being quite misleading, as I would say that this book is mainly focused on dissecting the relationship of the main characters Clara and Tom, while the fogging was only skimmed over very briefly and wasn't featured much in the story. Initially I was really confused as to why past travel stories kept being featured about the characters Tom and Clara, until I realised that this was going to be the premise of the book by looking at their relationship. I think that Luke writes internal dialogue really well and I liked learning about the main character Tom - plus I loved some of the references to areas in Melbourne.

[Donna McEachran]

I'm not sure how I feel about this book...it's certainly not an easy read-Tom is a very strange central character! Didnt hate it but didn't particularly like it either.

[Kirsten]

I felt like this novel was slightly misrepresented, I was expecting more action and less introspection. That said, it was an interesting account of a long term relationship gone awry.

[Annelies Allcock]

I mean, I should've realised a book about severe anxiety and the demise of a relationship would be joyless.

[Anna Ottersbach-McLean]

Easy read with little action which I quite like; the relationships between the characters were more important. All of them were very unlikable though, and the main couple was in their thirties but stuck at least ten years younger. I liked the setting. 3.5.

[Lisa]

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/t...

[Lyn]

I only finished this book because it was relatively short and I wanted to see the point of it. Unfortunately, I was disappointed. The characters were flat, it was hard to care about them and nothing happened. This style of book is not for me.

[Tim]

I wish to thank Luke Horton, Scribe UK and NetGalley for the advanced copy of The Fogging in exchange for an honest review.

The Indonesian setting in the synopsis of this book piqued my curiosity; it is largely set in Bali in the tourist resort towns of Sanur and Ubud. The protagonist Tom is on a holiday with his partner Clara, Tom suffers from debilitating anxiety, a long term illness exacerbated by turbulence on the flight. Tom and Clara form a friendship with a couple and their son, exchanging perceptions of the shared experience. As Tom tries to relax he reflects on his academic career and on past travel with Clara. Tom describes an extended trip through Asia and Europe where they worked as willing workers on organic farms. The reflections examine the interpersonal relationships formed throughout his life and how mental illness impacted those relationships.

Luke Horton has written an impressive debut, his characters are expertly drawn, his descriptive writing is outstanding. Peggy Frew describes this novel as “Unsettling and dreamlike… humorous and yet lingeringly sad.” Widely praised by contemporaries, The Fogging is an excellent read, it is wonderful to find another talented Australian writer, recommend.

[Rhonda Tavani]

I kept waiting for something to happen! I began to get interested when he intercepted a message from Madeleine, but still no clarity there.
My review of a book is usually “Would I recommend it to a friend?” In this case “no”.

For what it’s worth I’m not a writer, or a critic , or a publisher. I’m just an avid book reader

[Jules]

The story went absolutely nowhere?

[Brit McCarthy]

Thank you to the publisher and Better Reading Preview for providing this book in exchange for an honest review. This did not influence my review in any way.

Because I, obviously, have a shorter attention span than I realised, and/or didn’t read the blurb properly, I thought this was going to be a thriller about the protag Tom trying to locate his partner Clara who has gotten trapped in a deadly pesticide treatment while on holiday in Bali. As I read I eagerly looked forward to that, as I assumed that we would see Tom really step up and be a hero. I wanted to cheer him on, because he kinda needed it!

This is not that book. At all.

That’s completely my fault. The fogging incident only lasts a couple of pages and is not cause for a thrilling plotline but it is a turning point, a catalyst for Tom and Clara’s relationship. In what direction, you’ll have to read to find out.

I found this book compulsively readable. Short, only 240 pages, but managing to convey a lot in the sparing use of dialogue (and also of quotation marks). I admit it took me a couple of chapters to settle into the writing style, but as I got to understand Tom more, it made more sense and helped in my interpretation of his character.

I guess I am the sort of reader who looks for the good, the redeemable, the hero in my MC’s. I will silently encourage them through their struggles and rejoice when things go well. And even when Tom revealed his apathetic character, I was still holding out for him, right until that last page. I wanted to be surprised and endeared by him.

We would struggle to get along, me and Tom, if we knew each other – although that could probably be said about a lot of people and Tom. I really felt for him, and although I can’t relate to his anxiety, it was convincingly presented by Horton through both the slow release of details and recollection of seemingly minor incidents in Tom’s life that build the picture of who he is and why he is that way. But Tom is the sort of person who lets life happen to him, whether that be personally or professionally or romantically, and is not the person to chase after what he wants. And that is partly what has led him to this point.

Despite all of that or maybe because of it, I couldn’t put this down and read it in an evening. I was so intrigued and while you can feel the intensity building and looming overhead (like a tsunami, you might say) I couldn’t pick where it was heading next. And in it’s own way, it was quietly exciting even when the characters were frustrating. I put this down thinking “why don’t they just TALK to each other?”

Don’t be Tom. Be your own hero!

[Brodie May]

The story of a couple, Tom and Clara who decide to take their first holiday in 10 years. On the way to Indonesia, Tom experiences his first panic attack in a long time and keeps it hidden from Clara.

Whilst in Indonesia, Tom and Clara meet a couple and their child, forming a very quick bond. Tom and Clara start to enjoy their holiday, and Tom thinks things are looking up for them. When the grounds of the resort are sprayed with pesticide 'the fogging', the couples dynamics change and the book takes a dark turn.

When I started reading this book, I was instantly gripped due to Horton's carefully detailed descriptions of the couple. From the start, it is well established that Tom suffers severe anxiety. His panic attacks and thought processes are so real for anyone who experiences anxiety, making Toms experience relatable for many.

Each character in the book is deeply flawed, and the tension is built so quietly throughout the story. Horton takes you back to distant memories of the couple when they were in their early twenties and travelling the world, which gives a great insight into the foundations of the relationship between Tom and Clara.

Told with so much irony, wit and humour, The Fogging was so enjoyable to read. In roughly 200 pages, the characters are established so well and it is hard to tell how this book will end. In some parts of the book, I was thinking of so many different ways this could end but I was never quite sure where it was going. The story line has such an eery feeling to it, it could have moved in any direction.

My only criticism is the way Clara was described by Tom in the opening scenes of the book. It was misogynistic and off-putting of Tom's character. However, I think this description was equally important as it was gross, as it tells of the kind of person Tom is, as overly-sensitive, and self involved.

Overall, I enjoyed this read. It felt compulsive in the way I could not put it down. It felt intoxicating to read. I am once again impressed by the debut novels that are being turned out in Australia this year.

I give this 4/5 stars.

[Caren]

(3.5) This was not an "enjoyable" novel, but one I could not put down. It was like "train crash TV", witnessing the intricate mental deterioration of a very troubled 30-something Tom as his marriage was falling apart in front of him. I'm not sure I even liked this character as he succumbed to a lifetime of overpowering anxiety and self-doubt. Certainly Horton writes his portrait of Tom with compassion. I felt sorry for Tom's inability to pull himself together; but, at other times, I wanted to slap him out of his self-consuming fragility. "He was either overwhelmed, agonised, everything in his life excruciating, unbearable, exhausting, or he felt nothing." There was nothing surprising about his failure to sustain his off again/on again relationship with Clara and later, their marriage.

Nothing much happens plot-wise in this character study, but Horton's skill is notable in portraying his characters and their connections to Tom. Clara has struggled in her own efforts to support Tom and, unlike him, makes decisions in her own best interest. Horton brings in to "befriend" Tom and Clara on their Bali holiday another couple with their young child. It is almost immediately apparent to Madelaine and Jeremy that problems linger between Tom and Clara, which the author handles with subtlety. As Tom looks over his early life, his failed academic life, and his relationship with Clara over the 15 years they have been together, the reader sees the pattern of disturbance that has plagued Tom throughout this time. Because even Tom questions his own perceptions and memories, the reader is caught up in the turmoil that the author portrays with sensitivity.

[marlin1]

**3.5 stars**
Tom and Clara have their first proper holiday in 10 years to Bali, with the heat, the people and the noise. They meet Madelaine, Jeremy and their young son Oscar and suddenly Clara is happy to be be around them but all Tom wants is to relax. He needs time and peace and he’s not sure if his panic attacks from his state of mind or the heat.Things seem to be okay until the routine ‘fogging’ of the area happens.

I’m not sure I enjoyed this type of narration and no quotation marks. Told entirely by Tom, it took me a while to get into his head.
Through the story Tom reminisces about their past overseas travels and the experiences they had. Slowly in the present day, his own anxieties are coming to the fore and his relationship with Clara is disintegrating. There’s a lot of analysing on Tom’s perspective of his and Clara’s relationship over the years and frankly I wasn’t sure where it was all going.
We never get to know Clara at all. It’s all Tom’s thoughts, memories and musings.
It wasn’t a novel that grabbed me but I was interested enough to follow through. I must admit never having been to Bali but the descriptions of the area, heat and sweat was quite evocative.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy to read.

[Read Me Another Story]

Thank you to @scribepub for sending me a copy of this book to read and review - it is most appreciated!

Story 📖

We meet Tom, the protagonist as he is in the middle of a panic attack on a plane flying towards Bali with his friend, Clara.

Tom and Clara are both academics and this is the first trip that they have taken together in 10 years and it appears that they are mostly friends but there is some romantic entanglement happening also (at least from Tom perspective as we never get to meet Clara except through Tom’s eyes) and it appears that the relationship is struggling as to where to go next.

At the resort in Bali, they meet Madeleine, Jeremy and their young son Oscar and Clara wants to be around them all the time whereas Tom, who has debilitating anxiety just wants to relax.

As the story continues, you witness a relationship crumbling and what can possibly hold it together?

Summary 📖

I love reading debut novels. It is always so exciting to hear a new voice and I really enjoyed this style of writing.

He captured in visceral detail the heat, the awkwardness and the anxiety of this holiday and how it unfolded.

Suggestion 📖

Great new voice, interesting story set in Bali and a really intriguing read.