This is an astonishingly good book. It's hard to discuss without giving away the plot. At first, I thought this was going to be a nice cosy novel about a sweet old lady, Ruth, living in some isolation on the Australian coast, and her relationship with her carer, Frida. Then I realised there was rather more to it, and seized any opportunity to read on. Finally, I realised that there was a great deal more to it, and that I wasn't at all sure that I wanted to know the ending. Here are characters that are as complex as most human beings: no simple 'goodies' and 'baddies' here. Here is a woman beginning to experience the loss of her mind as she ages. Here is her carer, who pushes all kinds of alarm buttons, though she has moments of kindness and himanity. Beautifully written, with striking and original use of metaphor, this is a book that will stay with me for a very long time. ( )

This was on the 2014 Stella Prize longlist and apparently McFarlane's debut novel, and a mighty fine debut it was/is.

Ruth is a widow (in her 70s), who moved from the city to a seaside house (in NSW?) with her retired husband a little while now, though husband passed away soon thereafter, and has now lived alone for some years. There are no immediate neighbours.

Her 2 sons live distantly (one in Hong Kong), each with different personalities. They are each in regular contact with Ruth, though do not spend a lot of time with her.

Soon enough, Ruth thinks she hears noises in the night (the night guest of the title), but does not find any evidence of anything being around.

One day Frida arrives at Ruth's front door, announcing that the government has sent her to provide Ruth with some home assistance. Over time, the assistance provided to Ruth grows both in scope and time spent.

Ruth is thinking over her life and ponders what might have been different if she had married Richard, and early boyfriend other than her now much missed husband. Ruth loved her husband and misses him, but does ponder what if? Somewhat unexpectedly Ruth and Richard get in contact with each other and Richard (himself now a widower) comes to stay for a weekend. They agree to remain in contact and Ruth talks of travelling to Sydney (where Richard now lives) to catch up.

Frida appears not happy with this development and increasingly challenges Ruth as to her mental capacity (you know you are becoming more forgetful don't you?).

Things come to an awful, but not unexpected, conclusion.

The other reviews of this book on Library Thing are very mixed, ranging from 5 to 1 stars, including a number of did/could not finish.

I thought it was well written. It was not hard to guess what was happening, but I don't think that detracted from the read. Some suggested that the introduction of the night guess was unnecessary or distracting. I thought it was understated and gave the book an air of confusion / not understanding in Ruth's own mind that hoped convey a sense of impending concern on her own part as to whether she was descending into dementia or similar.

I am keen to read McFarlane's latest (The Sun Walks Down) which got very reviews when recently published.

Big Ship

5 July 2023 ( )

I wanted to love this book but I just couldn't. I understand that the subject matter is important and brings up societal questions but, sadly, it does so in such a way as to seem fully transparent and a bit preachy, in the end.

The writing is unexceptional, the storyline is basic and predictable and the characters never grabbed me. I did like Ruth, the main character and I did feel for her knowing what seemed to be coming, but I didn't grow to love her or sympathise with her in a way that I might have had it been a stronger piece of writing.

I am quite confused about how this book came to be on so many 'Best of' lists. It brings nothing new to the table and is, on the whole, rather average. I didn't hate it, by any means, but I can't say that I liked it all that much either. In the end it just left me rather cold. ( )

This book has a *very* slow build. You can sense that something big is going to happen all the way through. However, once "it" happens, it's sort of a let-down because you knew it would come to that. This novel is only about 240 pages, but it took me 7 days to finish. That being said, the writing is lovely and the story was good enough to get 3 stars, the ending was the let-down, so that's why I couldn't push it up to 4 stars. ( )

Oh this was weird and delightful and totally creepy. I love Ruth - I'm not usually a big fan of elderly protagonists but Fiona McFarlane writes Ruth and Richard beautifully. Frida is also brilliant. Y'all, I had sort of a clue but not a clue about the strangeness Frida embodied and it was wonderful. I wanted this book to keep going and going...

My only reservation was the role of the tiger. I sort of understood its purpose but I also felt like it was a little disconnected. Other than that, this was a great read. ( )