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The Night Guest A Novel Fiona McFarlane Books

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The Night Guest A Novel Fiona McFarlane Books

75-year-old petite Ruth, widowed for five years, lives alone with her two cats on the coast in Australia, a house she and her husband, Harry, had used for vacations until his retirement when they moved there fulltime, a somewhat isolated house with a wonderful view of the dunes and the sea--whales migrated past. At night she believes a tiger may have entered the house. But the actual entry--in the daytime--is the large figure of Frida, sent by the government without Ruth's knowledge to aid Ruth in keeping the house up and what, eventually, will be more than just the house.
Ruth is the type of person who makes decisions--silly ones mostly--based upon her omen creations: if a car goes by in the next ten minutes, then she will force herself to sweep the walkway. If not, then she will not. It is really humorous--and pathetic.
Ruth has two diligent but geographically distant sons, both adults, married and fathers. They keep in touch by phone. Annually one son and his family travel to her for Christmas. But that's the extent of actual physical contact.
Her parents had been medical missionaries in Fiji where Ruth had grown up until she left when she was nineteen, left at the same time as Richard, a few years older, also left, returning from doing his form of missionary medical work albeit his was not nearly as religious in nature. Together they had attended a ball at a grand hotel in 1954 when the young queen--Elizabeth II--paid a visit. Richard had kissed Ruth, and she has very fond memories of the few times spent with Richard who, upon his return to Australia married a Japanese widow.
At the moment I am enjoying "The Last Tango in Halifax" on PBS. So while I read this wonderful novel, I found myself linking that couple with Ruth who invites Richard, now a widower, to visit her. He does. But when he does, the situation with Frida becomes more complicated. That I will not explore here--no spoiler am I.
I really find myself delighted that such a young author--she looks young on the jacket of the book--could have such a great understanding of elderly people. How would I know? I am early elderly! Short-term memory issues emerge. And issues about loneliness. And health. And, of course, those reoccurring issues of that tiger. (By the way, I do not like the cover! I think it detracts from the elegance of the prose. So don't "judge this book by its cover.")
And I was constantly reminded of Rachel Joyce's "The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Frye" when I read "The Night Guest." So if you have read that wonderful novel--one you can judge by its wonderful cover--then you will definitely like this one. The point of view is so perfect.
Great first novel. Awards maybe for it?


Tags : Amazon.com: The Night Guest: A Novel (9780865477735): Fiona McFarlane: Books,Fiona McFarlane,The Night Guest: A Novel,Farrar, Straus and Giroux,0865477736,Literary,Australia,Australia;Fiction.,Caregivers,Caregivers;Fiction.,Suspense fiction,Widows,Widows;Fiction.,AUSTRALIAN NOVEL AND SHORT STORY,FICTION Literary,FICTION Literary.,Fiction,Fiction - General,Fiction-Literary,GENERAL,General Adult,Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945),United States,bisacsh

The Night Guest A Novel Fiona McFarlane Books Reviews

Yes, there are some aspects of this very well written debut novel that strectch believability, but in real life we see these things happen, and in the end I found it to be an engrossing read. Those of us that are growing older can certainly empathize with the aging Ruth and her evolving issues with both recognizing her onset of dementia and weakening ability to cope with it. In this state she is the perfect victim - isolated, alone, and (as we learn from her recollections of younger days), burdened with a "willing to go along" personality. Into her life comes the unexpected, "too good to be true" Frida, who's strong presence and assertive behavior Ruth willingly succombs to, blithely indifferent to Frida's increasingly invasive intrusion and control of her life. What I found unbelievable (but again, this happens) was Ruth's son's reaction to this sudden change of condition; He readily accepts Frida's thin explanations of her presence - perhaps too quickly glad to distance himself from concern about his aging mother's welfare. By the time he realizes his mother's risk, it is too late. In a sense, the ending was inevitable and no surprise, but in spite of that I found this to be a page turner. I literally read it in two days. Ms. McFarlane has talent; her dialogue is superb, catching the nuances of Ruth's confusion in the present and her vivid memories of the past. Cast against the cunning, illogical but seemingly logical arguments of Frida, she is helpless, carried inevitably toward her fate unable to cope with the strength of her predator Frida, as sure of her prey as the allegorical Tiger in the night Ruth hears, but never sees, prowling through her house. Aside from the story and the enjoyment of reading it, this is a representation of the world as it can be, where the weak are spotted, tracked, and ultimately fall victim to the predators in our midst. Sons and daughters, look after your parents.
What a strangely intense novel... From page one, McFarlane filled each page with such endlessly building tension that I thought it a wonder that the words themselves didn't burst from the page like a glutton's buttons at a buffet. As I was reading this, though, and feeling that dread that something big was coming, I couldn't figure out exactly why I was feeling that way.

The words themselves are simply words, strung together in seemingly innocuous sentences, forming a straightforward tale of an elderly woman reflecting on her past, reconciling it with her confused present, and occasionally having vivid dreams of a tiger prowling the rooms in her small beachside home. When she first meets her new caretaker, things seem to be going pleasantly enough - but still, there is a pressure rising. It is almost unsettling how masterfully McFarlane has managed to manipulate me. It's as if the words themselves have little to do with the sense of foreboding. Rather, each page itself is infused with a menace that rises from the page like steam.

By the time I reached the end, I could do nothing but sit back, let out a sigh of relief, and think about how rarely a book has elicited such a physical unease from me. And that is absolutely a compliment.
75-year-old petite Ruth, widowed for five years, lives alone with her two cats on the coast in Australia, a house she and her husband, Harry, had used for vacations until his retirement when they moved there fulltime, a somewhat isolated house with a wonderful view of the dunes and the sea--whales migrated past. At night she believes a tiger may have entered the house. But the actual entry--in the daytime--is the large figure of Frida, sent by the government without Ruth's knowledge to aid Ruth in keeping the house up and what, eventually, will be more than just the house.
Ruth is the type of person who makes decisions--silly ones mostly--based upon her omen creations if a car goes by in the next ten minutes, then she will force herself to sweep the walkway. If not, then she will not. It is really humorous--and pathetic.
Ruth has two diligent but geographically distant sons, both adults, married and fathers. They keep in touch by phone. Annually one son and his family travel to her for Christmas. But that's the extent of actual physical contact.
Her parents had been medical missionaries in Fiji where Ruth had grown up until she left when she was nineteen, left at the same time as Richard, a few years older, also left, returning from doing his form of missionary medical work albeit his was not nearly as religious in nature. Together they had attended a ball at a grand hotel in 1954 when the young queen--Elizabeth II--paid a visit. Richard had kissed Ruth, and she has very fond memories of the few times spent with Richard who, upon his return to Australia married a Japanese widow.
At the moment I am enjoying "The Last Tango in Halifax" on PBS. So while I read this wonderful novel, I found myself linking that couple with Ruth who invites Richard, now a widower, to visit her. He does. But when he does, the situation with Frida becomes more complicated. That I will not explore here--no spoiler am I.
I really find myself delighted that such a young author--she looks young on the jacket of the book--could have such a great understanding of elderly people. How would I know? I am early elderly! Short-term memory issues emerge. And issues about loneliness. And health. And, of course, those reoccurring issues of that tiger. (By the way, I do not like the cover! I think it detracts from the elegance of the prose. So don't "judge this book by its cover.")
And I was constantly reminded of Rachel Joyce's "The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Frye" when I read "The Night Guest." So if you have read that wonderful novel--one you can judge by its wonderful cover--then you will definitely like this one. The point of view is so perfect.
Great first novel. Awards maybe for it?