The Guests by Agnes Ravatn

 

The Guests by Agnes Ravatn.

Translated by Rosie Hedger.

Published 18th January by Orenda Books.

From the cover of the book:

It started with a lie…

Married couple Karin and Kai are looking for a pleasant escape from their busy lives, and reluctantly accept an offer to stay in a luxurious holiday home in the Norwegian fjords.

Instead of finding a relaxing retreat, however, their trip becomes a reminder of everything lacking in their own lives, and in a less-than-friendly meeting with their new neighbours, Karin tells a little white lie…

Against the backdrop of the glistening water and within the claustrophobic walls of the ultra-modern house, Karin’s insecurities blossom, and her lie grows ever bigger, entangling her and her husband in a nightmare spiral of deceits with absolutely no means of escape…

Simmering with suspense and dark humour, The Guests is a gripping psychological drama about envy and aspiration … and something more menacing, hiding just below that glittering surface…

***********

Married couple Karin and Kai are manoeuvred into accepting the offer of a week's holiday in a luxury cabin on the Norwegian archipelago, the exclusive playground of the country's elite. While carpenter Kai has a busman's holiday reconstructing a jetty for the cabin's wealthy owners, Karin feels uncomfortably out-of-place and, despite the dramatic scenery, she cannot help being irked by the fact she is surrounded by the trappings of a lifestyle she can never have.

As Karin's insecurities rise to the surface, she finds herself telling a little white lie to the famous authors in the neighbouring cabin, unaware that this will lead to the couple becoming entangled in an increasingly complicated web of deceit... and as events spiral out of control, Karin begins to question quite how much of her real life is actually a lie too.

In this razor-sharp literary novel, Ravatn takes you on an intriguing exploration of insecurity, envy and social segregation, through one couple's holiday on the Norwegian fjords. The story plays out through the eyes of lawyer Karin, when a brush with her childhood nemesis, Iris, sends her off-balance, and brings back all the feelings of inadequacy that she thought she had thrown off long ago.  

Trapped into accepting Iris' offer of a holiday in the slick, uber-stylish cabin she and her husband have built, Karin cannot help but wonder exactly what Iris is trying to prove by this uncharacteristic act of generosity. It sets Karin on a dangerous path. Although she convinces herself she does not envy the lifestyle Iris and her family live, her inner feelings boil over into bitterness and resentment. Kai's calm reassurances to take stock of all the good things she has in her life fall on deaf ears, and Karin blunders into a situation that exposes the rawness in her own heart - and in the lives of the very people she intended to impress. 

In many ways this is an incisive morality tale about counting your blessings, and the dangers of wishing for the things you think you want. Karin learns that, inevitably, the glossy magazine articles hide a multitude of sins and sorrows, and as the threads of the story unfurl in a delicious tangle of the very best of Norwegian dramas, rife with excrutiatingly awkward scenes, suspicion and the weight of things unsaid, she finds herself reflecting on her own life too. Ravatn's writing tugs you on through beautifully wrought, psychological twists, and she has a ball subverting an examination of the human condition, that drips with melancholy, into a wonderfully wicked denouement. Superb!  

This novel is incredibly clever. It thrums with dark, sardonic humour, and incredible insight, especially in the thought provoking themes it throws up about wealth, power, money, social mobility, how our childhood experiences shape us, and the pitfalls of discontent. I am so impressed with Rosie Hedger's translation skills in conveying the wit, drama, and nuance necessary to pull off this kind of complicated novel too - this clearly is a perfect partnership between author and translator. 

This book was a joy to consume. Ravatn's writing flows with such style, that I have totally fallen in love with it through the pages of this cracking little gem. I cannot wait to devour her other books!

The Guests is available to buy now in paperback, ebook and audio formats. You can support the very best of indie publishing by buying direct from Orenda Books HERE.

Thank you to Orenda Books for sending me a proof of this book in return for an honest review, and to Random Things Tours for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.

About the author:

Agnes Ravatn is a Norwegian author and columnist. She made her literary début with the novel Week 53 (Veke 53) in 2007, followed by three critically acclaimed and award-winning essay collections: Standing still (Stillstand), 2011, Popular Reading (Folkelesnad), 2011, and Operation Self-discipline (Operasjon sjøldisiplin), 2014. In these works Ravatn shows her unique, witty voice and sharp eye for human fallibility. Her second novel, The Bird Tribunal (Fugletribuanlet), was an international bestseller, translated into fifteen languages, and winning an English PEN Award, shortlisting for the Dublin Literary Award, a WHSmith Fresh Talent pick and a BBC Book at Bedtime. It was also made into a successful play, which premiered in Oslo in 2015. The critically acclaimed The Seven Doors was published in English in 2020. Her newest novel The Guests is being published in English in 2023. Agnes lives with her family in the Norwegian countryside.