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'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.' (Publication summary)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
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What I Wish I’d Known About: Studying Creative Writing
2022
single work
essay
— Appears in: Kill Your Darlings [Online] , June 2022; -
Luke Horton, The Fogging
2020
single work
review
— Appears in: Colloquy : Text Theory Critique , December no. 39 2020;
— Review of The Fogging 2020 single work novel 'Luke Horton's debut novel The Fogging deconstructs the ways in which mental illness can impact a relationship, while shedding light on how a lack of clear financial prospects can slowly consume a couple. The inability to look at a potentially shared future with hope is a key element in the novel, which highlights how a growing number of academics struggle to maintain their sanity and make ends meet. Through the character of Tom, Luke Horton draws the reader's attention to issues that have long affected academics and that are becoming a major concern for early career researchers. In particular, The Fogging focuses on the almost inevitable childlessness that academics are forced to accept due to a lack of job security and appropriate financial remuneration.' (Introduction) -
Kate Grenville, Sofie Laguna, Julia Baird and Others : The 20 Best Australian Books of 2020
2020
single work
column
— Appears in: The Guardian Australia , 17 December 2020; -
Books Roundup
2020
single work
review
— Appears in: Kill Your Darlings [Online] , September 2020;
— Review of The Fogging 2020 single work novel ; Kokomo 2020 single work novel ; Loner 2020 single work novel -
Luke Horton : The Fogging
2020
single work
review
— Appears in: The Newtown Review of Books , August 2020;
— Review of The Fogging 2020 single work novel'Luke Horton’s tense debut novel asks uncomfortable questions about intimate relationships.'
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June in Fiction
2020
single work
review
— Appears in: Overland [Online] , June 2020;
— Review of The Fogging 2020 single work novel ; The Spill 2020 single work novel ; Almost a Mirror 2020 single work novel -
Luke Horton, The Fogging
2020
single work
review
— Appears in: The Saturday Paper , 25-31 July 2020;
— Review of The Fogging 2020 single work novel'Novels are uniquely placed to depict the interiority of a person, saving from obsolescence a particular entertainment that is unadulterated crack for some. Luke Horton’s debut, The Fogging, is a study in interiors. Academics Tom and Clara have been together on and off, mostly on, for 14 years. In their mid-30s, they still live in an undergraduate mess of unwashed dishes and piled clothes. Their life together has stagnated and their communication is poor. Narrator Tom suffers from anxiety, and Horton articulates with devastating precision the slow burn of Tom’s panic attacks across pages drenched in sweat.' (Introduction)
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Panic Attack : A Remarkably Assured Debut
2020
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , August no. 423 2020; (p. 33)
— Review of The Fogging 2020 single work novel Luke Horton's novel The Fogging opens with a panic attack. Tom, the book's protagonist, begins to tremble and sweat when the flight he is on — from Melbourne to Denpasar —hits turbulence. Tom is travelling with his long-term girlfriend, Clara, on a holiday they have organised more out of duty than from any real desire for travel, having booked their flights to use up his mother's Frequent Flyer points.The turbulence wakes Tom's 'ringing nerves' and anxiety starts 'chewing his inside?, making him 'shimmer' and 'pulse'. He panics, or comes close to panicking, a number of times throughout the novel. Horton's handling of this — directly, sensorially, compassionately — is remarkable. Tom's panic attacks are always vivid and bodily, and they always feel true to life. It's rare to see this achieved so well in fiction.' (Introduction)
-
Luke Horton : The Fogging
2020
single work
review
— Appears in: The Newtown Review of Books , August 2020;
— Review of The Fogging 2020 single work novel'Luke Horton’s tense debut novel asks uncomfortable questions about intimate relationships.'
-
Books Roundup
2020
single work
review
— Appears in: Kill Your Darlings [Online] , September 2020;
— Review of The Fogging 2020 single work novel ; Kokomo 2020 single work novel ; Loner 2020 single work novel -
Kate Grenville, Sofie Laguna, Julia Baird and Others : The 20 Best Australian Books of 2020
2020
single work
column
— Appears in: The Guardian Australia , 17 December 2020; -
What I Wish I’d Known About: Studying Creative Writing
2022
single work
essay
— Appears in: Kill Your Darlings [Online] , June 2022;
Awards
- 2021 longlisted APA Book Design Awards — Best Designed Commercial Fiction Cover designed by Laura Thomas
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cIndonesia,cSoutheast Asia, South and East Asia, Asia,