Review: After the Fog by Kathleen Shoop

Title: After the Fog
Author: Kathleen Stoop
Publication Date: May 8, 2012

From Goodreads:

The sins of the mother... In the steel mill town of Donora, Pennsylvania, site of the infamous 1948 "killing smog," headstrong nurse Rose Pavlesic tends to her family and neighbors. Controlling and demanding, she's created a life that reflects everything she missed growing up as an orphan. She's even managed to keep her painful secrets hidden from her loving husband, dutiful children, and large extended family.When a stagnant weather pattern traps poisonous mill gasses in the valley, neighbors grow sicker and Rose's nursing obligations thrust her into conflict she never could have fathomed. Consequences from her past collide with her present life, making her once clear decisions as gray as the suffocating smog. As pressure mounts, Rose finds she's not the only one harboring lies. When the deadly fog finally clears, the loss of trust and faith leaves the Pavlesic family-and the whole town-splintered and shocked. With her new perspective, can Rose finally forgive herself and let her family's healing begin?

My Thoughts:

After the Fog takes place in 1948 and is the story of Rose, a community nurse who is not only trying to better the lives of her patients, but also her family's. She lives in the steel mill town of Donora, Pennsylvania, where half of the town's population works in the mills. Her husband, Henry, and gambling brother-in-law, Buzzy, work in the mills at night while rose does her nursing during the day. When weather forces all of the mill's gasses to fill the valley, Rose has to work harder than ever before. Unfortunately, this also happens to be the same week that Rose's past comes back to haunt her. She has been keeping secrets her entire marriage and now they are threatening to come to light. Henry and the children also seem to be holding onto some secrets of their own, and when all is revealed, Rose's life will never be the same.

Rose Pavlesic was a very strong character. She worked hard, took care of herself and others and didn't take drama from her patients. As much as I wanted to connect with her, I just couldn't at first. It took me a long time to feel something other than annoyance with her. Perhaps it was because her life takes place in a different time than my own and living was much different then. She put up with things that I would never stand for. For example: she lives in a home with her husband, two children, aunt, uncle, brother and sister-in-law and nephew. The brother-in-law is a chronic gambler and Rose and Henry constantly have to bail him out of trouble. I found it hard to believe that she would allow this to continuously happen, especially when she is trying to save for a house and not even sure if she will have a job in the very near future. I personally would have told him to leave and if I had to, I'd give my husband an ultimatum. But as I said before, I think the reason I had trouble with this was because things were much different back in 1948 and making a living was harder.

Aside from Rose's nursing, she worked very hard to make sure her children, Johnny and Magdalena, had every opportunity that she didn't. Growing up in an orphanage, life was very difficult and it took a lot of hard work for Rose to get where she was today. She insists that both children go to college and become strong and independent. Because of her background, perhaps she pushed the children a little too hard and they start to retaliate. They love their mother, but they want to make their own lives. I could understand this, of course, but I also understood where Rose was coming from. She just wanted them to be successful and not struggle like she had.

What I found most interesting about this book was that parts of this story actually happened. Donora is a real place and the "killing smog" unfortunately did get trapped in the town in 1948. The author clearly did her research into these events and it gave the story an eerie quality. Even though Rose and the other characters were fictional, I still couldn't help thinking about what it must have been like for the real citizens who lived through such a scary event.

There was definitely not a lack of drama in this story. There are many secrets just aching to be told and every time you think you have this story figured out, something new comes to light that puts you right back in the guessing game. The author does a fantastic job of keeping the pace and fusing fact with fiction. The slow accumulation of smog is the perfect backdrop for Rose's story and the dramatic events about to unfold.

I recommend After the Fog for all historical fiction fans, lovers of Chick Lit and even those looking for something new and interesting to curl up with.


For more about Kathleen Shoop or After the Fog, check out her website here.

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