The Guest

Finished April 2

The Guest by Emma Cline

I grabbed this book from the library to fill a challenge. I would say that it's a book that made me feel kind of like I was watching a train wreck in slow motion.

The main character Alex is very unlikeable. She behaves very much like a narcissist, and tries to manage the relationships, but doesn't necessarily put a lot of work into it. She moved to New York City as a young woman and lives with roommates. She has been in the city for a while as the book opens, and it appears that she worked as an escort, but never made a lot of money at it, and now is finding it more difficult to draw the men that she wants to. She has also missed rent payments and her roommates have kicked her out. 

After an encounter at a bar, she has decided to go in a different direction, beginning a relationship with an older man with the expectation that it will be long term. He doesn't pay her, but he does buy her things like clothing and accessories. She has traveled with him to his vacation home on Long Island, and accompanied him to various dinners and parties. When she makes a misstep at one of the parties, she finds him distancing himself from her and the sending her back to the city. His assistant buys her a train ticket and leaves her at the station. 

But Alex has another issue. She has got on the bad side of a man who doesn't suffer fools, and he is looking for her to return something she's taken from him. We do eventually find out what that it, but he has been calling her and trying to get her to meet him, so she is wary of taking a chance and going back to the city.

As she maneuvers herself into various living situations through meeting people and pretending she knows them, she has a plan to go back to the man who has sent her away, timing it for a party he has planned for Labour Day. 

Alex is desperate, but also very manipulative. She looks for opportunities to ingratiate herself into others' lives for her own benefit. She can be charming, but also cold and uncaring. I found myself wondering what crazy thing she would do next. 

An interesting and unique look at a life situation beyond anything I could imagine. 

Birnam Wood

Finished August 29

Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton

This was a very interesting read. As the book opens, a landslide on New Zealand's south island has caused a road blockage on Korowai Pass, resulting in a dead end at the north edge of Korowai National Park. The farm just north of the park is owned by Jill and Owen Darvish, Jill having grown up there on her family's farm near the small town of Thorndike. Owen has made a successful career in pest control, and the farm is not currently in use as a farm. Shortly after the landslide, Owen was awarded a knighthood. 

Mira Bunting, one of the founders of a guerrilla gardening group, Birnam Wood, has taken note of this and wonders if this is an opportunity to take their gardening to a new level by taking advantage of this unused land. She decides to go up there and scope things out. 

Mira's co-manager, Shelley Noakes has been growing discontented with the group and her role and is gearing herself up to tell Mira that she wants to leave. With the sudden reappearance of Tony Gallo, another founder of the group, things get more complicated. Tony had gone to Mexico to teach English years ago, but recently found himself dissatisfied there and returned home. Tony has journalist aspirations, and is trying to get his foot in as a freelancer. 

Mira's visit to the farm results in an unexpected meeting between her and Robert Lemoine, an American billionaire. Robert has recently approached Owen Darvish about purchasing the farm property, and offers Mira and her group a chance to prove themselves there. He also offers funding, and this drives Mira to offer the group this chance in a sudden meeting. The group agrees to move forward, but Tony is suspicious of the offer and decides to do some research into the situation. 

His approach to Owen Darvish results in Darvish having questions as well.

The reader is able to see Robert's viewpoint as well, giving us knowledge of his motives and actions that belie what he has professed publicly. 

As the pressure mounts, the situation gets out of control, and unexpected encounters create additional suspense for the reader. 

I found the novel hard to put down as I wanted to see how things turned out. The characters are complex and have motivations that are also complex. There is an obvious 'bad guy' from the outset, and I really wanted him to pay for his actions, and I wanted Tony to get the two things he wanted, love and a chance at journalism.