Sometimes, it really is true — they don’t make them like they used to, even fogs. London was once the home of the pea-souper – but have you noticed one lately? That’s almost certainly a good thing, though. The worst ever hit in December 1952: “an all encompassing smoke-laden yellow smog that killed thousands”. This kind of killing fog is, happily, no longer a feature of London life (hooray for people no longer burning coal to keep warm), but it is only one manifestation of what is an otherwise alluring meteorological condition.
So alluring that Laura Pashby has not just dedicated this entire book to it, but by the sounds of it, much of her current life. Chasing Fog isn’t just a narrative of Pashby’s pursuit, but an exploration of fog itself.
