Fiction, 2023
My best friend and I like to keep our days free so opportunities may fall into our lap. Like when we went on vacation together to the beach a couple of weeks ago. Our favourite day consisted of empty space—in which the ongoing activities of others affected us positively—it was the freedom of possibility when something glorious might happen just by virtue of us being there.
The Guest is an unhinged exploration of this philosophy and a deep dive into the play-acting of women as a mode of survival. Alex, the woman we follow, spends her time searching for opportunities without any of our earthly limitations (familial responsibilities, friends, a job, or a house that needs attention.) In other words, she goes where the wind takes her, and the wind, in this case, is a cluster of rich and powerful men. When we meet her, she’s dodging the calls of a man named “Dom”—which is probably one of the most threatening names I can think of, and is simultaneously being whisked away to Long Island by her (current) wealthy lover.
But Alex gets too comfortable and forgets that she doesn’t belong, resulting in two bruises: his car that she scratched and his ego, which she injured at a dinner party. She is unceremoniously kicked out and chauffeured to the train station. But Alex believes that she can get him back (he just needs time to cool down), and she can’t return to the city where Dom and angry flatmates await. So she stays, waiting for—and encountering—opportunities.
Cline’s writing is so clean that it feels effortless. Each word in every sentence belongs there and couldn’t possibly have been replaced by anything else. The tension that builds through every page had me shivering by the end, and once I closed the book, I desperately needed a clean blue sky—and a cigarette to pollute it with.
Song - cowboy like me
Film - Emily the Criminal
P.S. - I loved this book so much that I was inspired to make a cocktail that captured the mood of The Guest. It is absolutely delicious:
70% salt and 30% crushed sugar rim (for that cocaine look)
2-3 ice-cubes
60 ml of gold tequila
a squeeze of lemon
topped off with tonic (usually half the glass remains for tonic)
best paired with poolside ennui
What a joy it is to read you Mahika. Like a fresh shower in the morning, bracing up for the day.
I love that there's a cocktail recipe to go with this book. Have to try it out!