This debut novel stands out among the year's strongest so far, with its delicately told story of two women whose lives temporarily entwine: one an ageing widow, the other a larger-than-life carer who inveigles herself into the widow's emotional life - and home. Its cool, controlled prose explores the intersections between dementia, unreliable narration, and elderly exploitation, regarding loss, ageing and racial tension without a hint of cliche. And it's a tension-filled psychological thriller to boot, all inspiring the use of that overused phrase 'a must read'. * Independent on Sunday *
Horribly believable, The Night Guest is an impressive debut novel that sustains the tense unravelling of its mystery. * The Sunday Times *
This psychological thriller feels uneasily close to the realities many families face . . . What's real and what's imagined are terrifyingly difficult to distinguish. It's surreal and menacing. * The Times *
McFarlane exploits the vulnerably blurry boundaries of memory here to create a subtle and beguiling crescendo of suspense . . . A limpid, beautiful novel. * Daily Mail *
A witty, poetic psychological thriller in which the reader becomes so firmly embedded in Ruth's mind that one cannot help but sympathise with her confusion * Financial Times *
A powerfully distinctive narrative about identity and memory, the weight of life and the approach of death * Guardian *
Beautifully written and psychologically tense . . . extraordinarily accomplished * Sunday Express *
You wouldn't think this was a debut novel, it is so accomplished and confident . . . A witty, menacing psychological thriller * Mumsnet *
