THE Guest

by Emma Cline

I never made it to the end of The Girls, Cline’s much applauded first novel, because I was too squeamish to read the inevitable violence as the story progressed into a Manson-like cult. The Guest isn’t violent, but it is so filled with existential despair that I found it equally hard to tolerate. I did make it to the finale, and am glad I did, because Cline’s clever prose is worth reading and the ending is perfect. The “plot” follows the distorted logic of a desperately unhappy addict who, despite seeing the old-moneyed crowd as shallow, superficial and sometimes even grotesque, wants to become part of their world. In her deluded mind, that is the way to find safety and security, escape her problems, and her past. My main issue is that I did not like the protagonist, or enjoy reading the way she operates and uses anyone in her path, and because I wasn’t given her back story, I found it difficult to empathise with her—or any of the characters. But perhaps that’s the point.