Author: Fiona McFarlane
Publisher: Sceptre
Publication Year: 2014
Language: English
Format: Hardback
Pages: 278
Ruth is widowed, her sons are grown, and she lives in an isolated beach house outside of town. Her routines are few and small. One day a stranger arrives at her door, looking as if she has been blown in from the sea. This woman—Frida—claims to be a care worker sent by the government. Ruth lets her in.
Now that Frida is in her house, is Ruth right to fear the tiger she hears on the prowl at night, far from its jungle habitat? Why do memories of childhood in Fiji press upon her with increasing urgency? How far can she trust this mysterious woman, Frida, who seems to carry with her, her own troubled past? And how far can Ruth trust herself?
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I believe that the Night Guest isn’t the only book that uses tiger as a symbolism. However, in this book the symbolism has a prominent role. A widowed 75 years old woman named Ruth, called her son in the middle of the night telling him that she heard a tiger in her house. She’s aware that the tiger is not real. What she isn’t aware of is how this tiger foreshadow something dangerous is lurking around the corner. The next morning, she had a visit from a woman named Frida. Frida claimed to be a carer and she’s been appointed by the government to care for Ruth. Thus begin their day together with Frida helping Ruth cook and clean the house while Ruth reconnecting with her childhood life in Fiji.
Honestly at first, I didn’t know what to make of the tiger. It’s only later I realized that the tiger is a symbol of something dangerous coming to Ruth’s life. Take Frida, she’s such a mysterious woman. She came out of nowhere and I feel like her narratives can’t be trusted. We don’t really know who she is besides what she told Ruth. Her motive is also questionable. Little by little she inserted herself into Ruth’s life until it’s too late to realize what she’s been up to. Her bond with Ruth also seems odd. Though she always said that she cares for Ruth, in my opinion she had a weird way to show it. For example, she likes to decide things for Ruth but make it seems like that’s what Ruth wants. It looks like Frida tried slowly to take control of Ruth. Frida is manipulative, but it makes her an interesting character to read. The fact that Ruth’s sons live far away from her isn’t helping. It makes Ruth depended on Frida more because she got no one else around.
Along the way, Ruth felt like she started to lose herself. This is reflected in her narrative. There are times when she confused her present with the past. Or there’s a gap in which she didn’t remember what happened so she could only rely on what Frida said. This makes reading the book tricky because we’re not sure which is caused by her mental deterioration and which is caused by Frida.
All in all, The Night Guest surprised me. It’s such a suspense read. I enjoyed reading this book and I recommend this book for mystery lovers out there. However, this book has an ambiguous ending which some people might not a fan of.
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