The Guest

A hypnotic atmosphere of the last summer days, an ominous premonition of catastrophe, and the cunning seduction of New York’s elite—Emma Cline’s long-awaited new novel, the author of the bestseller “The Girls” and the collection “Papa.”

Young Alex has a great time with her wealthy, old lover in the Hamptons—among expensive villas, private beaches, azure pools, and scorching parties. But one day, after a fatal mistake, the “sugar daddy” throws her out of the house, and now the girl has to take care of her own housing and a piece of bread. Her only assets are a water-soaked phone, a flexible moral compass, and an unmatched gift for guessing the most cherished human desires.

Like a ghost, Alex continues to wander the streets of Long Island—from one luxurious mansion to another—skillfully weaving networks of lies, brazenly intruding into other people’s lives, sowing chaos and ruin. Soon her carefree summer adventure will turn into a dangerous game, where one wrong move can lead to total collapse.

“Guest” is a novel about the seductiveness of deception, social isolation, and the fragility of human ties. Emma Cline masterfully conveys the feeling of anxious uncertainty, creating a portrait of a woman balancing on the edge of recklessness and survival. It’s a timely and audacious, yet bitter and sad story that blends the existential mystery of David Lynch with the naive-cynical sincerity of Salinger.

The novel made the list of the most anticipated books of 2025 according to RBC Life and TASS.

Press about the book

“I read a new novel by Emma Cline in a single night, and I came to love her after her debut ‘The Girls.’ I waited a long time for ‘The Guest,’ and it turned out to be exactly the hypnotic guilty pleasure I’d expected. The light style, easy storytelling, complete immersion in the story—Cline hasn’t lost any of that… A bitter, yet timely novel about loneliness and the illusory happiness borrowed from random people,”—Ekaterina Pisarieva.

“The Guest has a deceptively simple plot, and the sheer number of nuances, contradictions, and tension you can extract from it is a real achievement,”—The Guardian.