The Night Guest - Fiona McFarlane

 

So impressed, was I with the quality of the writing in Fiona McFarlane’s shortlisted, Walter Scott Historical Fiction Prize novel The Sun Walks Down, that I sought out a copy of her debut novel The Night Guest from my local library.

This is a very different book, set in contemporary times with what has become something of a universal theme and a contemporary one – identity, ageing and memory. 

Ruth, the protagonist, is 75 and clearly in the early stages of dementia. Her condition deteriorates throughout the course of the novel, and the story develops deceptively from what seems to be straightforward tale of an ageing lady receiving carer help to a disordered descent into an abyss of surreal and psychological pandemonium.

The dynamic between the two main characters, Ruth and Frida the carer, shift subtly as the story develops. The reader is thrown off balance by not quite knowing whether it’s Ruth‘s deteriorating condition that is causing confusion, or whether Frida is not quite who she seems to be or both even! And you’ll get no spoilers from me!

There’s a lot of tension in the novel which again keeps the reader on their toes and makes for some uneasy reading in some cases. The titular night guest is in fact a tiger. And you can’t help but think of The Life of Pi or even The Tiger’s Wife. I found it interesting that Ruth‘s friend is called Richard Porter, because I immediately thought Richard Parker!! And so the tiger is not a new metaphor in contemporary literature, but it is a powerful one and it remains so here.

McFarlane’s writing is poetic just as it is in her current novel And serves to sustain the nervy atmosphere created. Her characterisations are thorough and believable. She seems to have captured the lack of confidence that comes with old age, regardless of any memory issues. And Ruth is a delightful character. I had such a strong sense of wanting to protect her. The account of her foray into town is both touching and heartbreaking. Frida, too, is an immense character. You see her descend into a different kind of chaos from Ruth’s. I found myself constantly questioning whether she really cared for Ruth or not. She was a paradox, a mass of contradictions. 

Clearly, we have a writer of note.There is a huge gap between this book (2013), and her current one (2022) with a collection of short stories (2016) in between. I actually like that. It means we have an author who is not churning out work for the masses. She’s got something to say and she’ll say it when she’s ready to say it. Which to me says it’s going to be worth listening to! The only problem for me, as I start to catch Ruth up in age, is that I might not be around by the time she finishes her next book!