An Unexpected Guest: A Novel - Hardcover

Anne Korkeakivi was born and raised in New York City but currently lives in Geneva, Switzerland, with her husband, who works at the United Nations, and two daughters. Her short stories have been published by The Yale Review, The Atlantic, and The Bellevue Literary Review, among other magazines, and she is a Hawthornden Fellow. She has also lived in France and Finland, as well as in a few additional corners in the U.S.

"Serious geopolitics mixes with parenthood and the finer points of entertaining.... Like her protagonist, Korkeakivi's writing is cool, calm and composed."―Alison McCulloch, The New York Times

"Beautifully written....emotional and riveting....this book is a winner!"―Pat Williams, The Courier (Houston)

"An Unexpected Guest is a quietly intelligent novel about a woman who, at long last, learns to be honest with herself."―Yvonne Zipp, Christian Science Monitor

"Korkeakivi creates a Paris as crisp and unruffled as her heroine-and just as likely to surprise."―Elizabeth Bard, author of Lunch in Paris: A Love Story with Recipes

"[In] this promising debut novel... Korkeakivi shares Woolf's flair for making everyday rituals (buying flowers, setting the table) seem profound."―Melissa Maerz, Entertainment Weekly

"An Unexpected Guest is a lovingly detailed account of a day in the life of the wife of a British diplomat in Paris. But what a day! She deals with protocol, place settings and a temperamental cook and at the same time a troubled son, an Irish complication, and a suspected Turkish terrorist. Virginia Woolf meets Eric Ambler-and readers meet a charming heroine who rises to all occasions."―John Casey, National Book Award-winning author of Spartina and Compass Rose

"A taut tender suspenseful novel, delicately told."―Fernanda Eberstadt, author of Rat and The Furies

"[A] captivating first novel about appearances concealing truth."―Julie Trevelyan, Booklist

"Like Virginia Woolf did in Mrs. Dalloway, Korkeakivi brilliantly weaves the complexities of an age into an act as deceptively simple as hosting a dinner party."―Audra Otto, Minneapolis Post

"This beautifully modulated first novel follows one day in the life of a British diplomat's American wife as she organizes a dinner party crucial to her husband's career.... With this seemingly slight day-in-the-life tale, Korkeakivi produces a knowing comedy of manners, a politically charged thriller and a genuinely moving study of the human heart."―Kirkus Reviews Starred Review