The Guest Room
Review by Jill Hedgecock
The Guest Room by Chris Bohjalian (2016, Doubleday, paperback, 336 pages, $6.79) is the story of the fallout after a happily married man, Richard Chapman, makes the unfortunate mistake of hosting his brother’s bachelor party. Things spiral out of control when the hired entertainment—two young Russian sex slave girls—rebel against their captors and kill the two thugs during the party. Bohjalian’s heart-wrenching story is told primarily from two perspectives: Richard and Alexandra, one of the Russian girls at the party. While Richard’s comfortable life as an investment banker is turned upside down because of the murders, his woes are less intense compared to Alexandra’s. Her tale of abduction and imprisonment into a life of whoring catapults this novel into an edge-of-your-seat page turner. Somehow Alexandra’s kind heart and indomitable spirit makes reading this difficult subject matter easier.
Bohjalian’s narrative goes beyond describing the post-party calamity for the two main characters. From Richard’s brother-in-law’s (Philip’s) fiancé, to Philip’s best friend, Spencer, to Richard’s wife and daughter, the bachelor party mayhem leaves loved ones and acquaintances with difficult choices. The theme of Barbie dolls, perhaps an ultimate symbol of objectifying women, serves to add a disquieting depth to this story.
The Guest Room is Bohjalian’s eighteenth and far from his only great read. He has a penchant for taking ordinary people going about their normal lives and shoving them into impossible situations. He has mastered the art of seducing readers to question how they might act in a similar situation. From the New York Times bestsellers, The Sandcastle Girls (Armenian genocide) to Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands (aftermath of a nuclear meltdown on a teen girl in Vermont), Bohjalian’s diversity of socially- and morally-engaging topics is impressive. Three of his books have been turned into movies (Secrets of Eden, Past the Bleachers and Midwives).
The accolades for The Guest Room go beyond being a New York Times Bestseller and include such honors as becoming A Publishers Weekly Bestseller, A USA Today Bestseller and a Los Angeles Times Bestseller. Although uncomfortable to read at times, the novel brings to light horrendous business practices and heinous crimes against women. Yet, Bohjalian writes with compassion. In his acknowledgements, Bohjalian applauds the Los Angeles-based Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking (www.castla.org) for their work in assisting victims of sex slavery. He has humanized sex slave trafficking in a way that could act as an agent for change. Bravo!
Click here to buy the book:
Note: I receive a small commission if you purchase from this link.
