The novelist talks about the power of being an outsider, growing up in a family of seven siblings – and exploring the Hamptons in her first novel since her Manson-inspired bestseller
mma Cline is a writer who seemed to hit her stride straight out of the gate. Her bestselling 2016 debut, which told the story of a Manson family-type cult, was praised for its canny structure, moving seamlessly between time frames, and for the sheer density of imagery, although what was most striking about the novel was how assured it was.
Appearing seven years after The Girls, The Guest is a contemporary tale that unfolds over the course of seven days. Its protagonist, Alex, has almost no backstory. The action is limited to a few square miles of Long Island. There are no deaths, or explosions, or external dramas of any great magnitude, just an intense engagement with the narrow field of vision before her, as Alex moves through an increasingly stressful and impossible week. The tension never wavers.
Some of Alex’s deadpan observations are so on the money they made me wince to imagine on whom Cline might have based them. One night, Alex is taken by the man to the house of a rich friend of his, where the hostess, Helen, is regarded by the much younger woman with frank derision. Helen has invested in an app, which if she were to be believed, writes Cline, “was perfecting a technology that diagnosed illness from a breathalyzer you plugged into your phone”.
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