The Sudden Guest

The Sudden Guest is a book from the 1940s written by Christopher La Farge. The story follows the manner in which the main character, Miss Carrell Lecton, deals with a hurricane which hits her summer house in New England during 1944. The story flashes back periodically to Miss Lecton's memories of another hurricane which she lived through in 1938, and all of the dramas she experienced during that earlier storm.

Some readers of the book describe the plot as "static" and the story as boring. Another reviewer sees the story as reflective of America's values prior to, as well as during and after, the Second World War.

I'm not sure I'd read anything into this book other than what's written on its pages. I don't know if the author is still living...if he is, I'd try to get in contact with him to get his opinion on the above-mentioned reviewer's take on the book.

I'm not going to go into an exhaustive synopsis of the book because it would take too much time and because I don't want to spend that amount of time writing and editing something that might not even get read, anyway. But the more times I read The Sudden Guest, the more stuff I see in it that either I hadn't picked up before or that I find particularly interesting and linger over. I don't know why, but I found Mr LaFarge's description of what Miss Lecton had for dinner one evening during the storm particularly interesting. But then again, the idea of having servants to cook my meals - and serve them to me - is appealing. And I kept hoping - even though I knew it was not gonna happen - that Miss Lecton would drop her pain-in-the-arse persona and bend just a little bit. The woman was a bitch. Read the book and you'll see why.

Anyway, Miss L rides out the storm and, presumably, hires people to clean up the mess that the hurricane caused to her house and gardens before she heads back to her New York apartment for the autumn. What happens beforehand is pretty cool, with even some mild sexual stuff included.

I'll read this book again and let you know what else about it I find absorbing.

First post.

I've just finished reading another blogger's review of a book I've read 3-4 times. She (blogger) picked up on some fairly salient pieces of this book that probably were in the back of my mind as I read it for maybe the second time.
Anyway, the reason for this blog of mine follows on from the above-mentioned blogger's blog. I'll e'splain later...got other things to do right now.