The Mist

The Mist demands much of the reader, because it is a story of terrible family tragedy without a clear villain. Taking his four year old nephew to the beach one afternoon, Julian - a twenty-something teacher in Los Angeles - stops to help a woman who is stung by a jellyfish. In that moment, little Noah wanders off up the breakwater, falls off and drowns. Struggling with Post Traumatic Stress, Julian seeks sanctuary in England with his newly pregnant sister and her English husband. Julian must forever live with the fact that he was neglectful, and endure the cold ire of his family, all of whom miss Noah and to a greater or lesser degree blame Julian. The novel ends on a positive note, with Julian finding love, but it is left for the reader to decide if the neglectful babysitter was villain or hero.