The Guest : A Novel

Contents Cover Title Page Copyright Contents Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Dedication Other Titles About the Author Landmarks Cover Cover Title Page Contents Start Copyright Print Page List v vi 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 vii ii 293 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Thank you to Bill Clegg and everyone at the Clegg Agency, and to Kate Medina and the Random House team.
 For early help, I’m grateful to Willing Davidson, Hilary Cline, David Gilbert, Alexander Benaim, Sara Freeman, Lexi Freiman, and Megan, Elsie, and Mayme Cline.
 
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 The Guest is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
 Copyright © 2023 by Emma Cline
 All rights reserved.
 Published in the United States by Random House, an imprint and division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York.
 Random House and the House colophon are registered trademarks of Penguin Random House LLC.
 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
 Names: Cline, Emma, author.
 Title: The guest : a novel / Emma Cline.
 Description: First Edition. | New York : Random House, [2023]
 Identifiers: LCCN 2022037681 (print) | LCCN 2022037682 (ebook) | ISBN 9780812998627 (hardcover) | ISBN 9780812998634 (ebook)
 Subjects: LCGFT: Novels. Classification: LCC PS3603.L547 G84 2023 (print) | LCC PS3603.L547 (ebook) | DDC 813/.6—dc23/eng/20220812
 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/​2022037681
 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/​2022037682
 Ebook ISBN 9780812998634
 Export edition ISBN 9780593597248
 randomhousebooks.com
 Book design by Barbara M. Bachman, adapted for ebook
 Cover design: Oliver Munday
 Cover photograph: Getty Images
 ep_prh_6.1_143680504_c0_r1
 
 
 
 Contents
 
 Cover
 Title Page
 Copyright
 
 
 Chapter 1
 
 
 Chapter 2
 
 
 Chapter 3
 
 
 Chapter 4
 
 
 Chapter 5
 
 
 Chapter 6
 
 
 Chapter 7
 
 
 Chapter 8
 
 
 Chapter 9
 
 
 Chapter 10
 
 
 Chapter 11
 
 
 Dedication
 By Emma Cline
 About the Author
 
 
 _143680504_
 
 
 1
 This was August. The ocean was warm, and warmer every day.
 Alex waited for a set to finish before making her way into the water, slogging through until it was deep enough to dive. A bout of strong swimming and she was out, beyond the break. The surface was calm.
 From here, the sand was immaculate. The light—the famous light—made it all look honeyed and mild: the dark European green of the scrub trees, the dune grasses that moved in whispery unison. The cars in the parking lot. Even the seagulls swarming a trash can.
 On the shore, the towels were occupied by placid beachgoers. A man tanned to the color of expensive luggage let out a yawn, a young mother watched her children run back and forth to the waterline.
 What would they see if they looked at Alex?
 In the water, she was just like everyone else. Nothing strange about a young woman, swimming alone. No way to tell whether she belonged here or didn’t.
 
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 When Simon had first taken her to the beach, he’d kicked off his shoes at the entrance. Everyone did, apparently: there were shoes and sandals piled up by the low wood railing. No one takes them? Alex asked. Simon raised his eyebrows. Who would take someone’s shoes?
 But that had been Alex’s immediate thought—how easy it would be to take things, out here. All sorts of things. The bikes leaning against the fence. The bags unattended on towels. The cars left unlocked, no one wanting to carry their keys on the beach. A system that existed only because everyone believed they were among people like themselves.
 
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 Before Alex left for the beach, she had swallowed one of Simon’s painkillers, a leftover from a long-ago back surgery, and already the familiar mental gauze had descended, the surrounding salt water another narcotic. Her heart beat pleasantly, noticeably, in her chest. Why did being in the ocean make you feel like such a good human? She floated on her back, her body moving a little in the push and pull, her eyes closed against the sun.
 There was