The Guest

The Guest by Emma Cline (2023) is a contemporary novel that explores the social dynamics of gender, wealth, and power. It follows a young woman named Alex whose luck is running out. She is running away from problems she’s caused while simultaneously struggling to create a more stable future for herself. The novel is a story of survival, self-sabotage, resilience, and manipulation.

Emma Cline is the award-winning author of the novel The Girls (2016) and the short story collection Daddy (2020). Her fiction has appeared in The Paris Review and The New Yorker.

This guide is based on the Amazon Kindle (Random House, 2023) edition.

Content Warning: This guide contains references to substance-use disorder, suicidal ideation, and self-harm.

Plot Summary

Alex is a 22-year-old woman who has spent years in New York City, relying on sex work to support herself. She dates wealthy men who buy her food and clothing. Now, she’s spending the summer in the Hamptons with a new boyfriend, an older man named Simon. The timing is perfect, as Alex is actively avoiding a man in the city named Dom, from whom she’s stolen drugs and money.