The Stranger Next Door [Hardcover]

Amelie Nothomb (Author), Carol Volk (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1998

France's bestselling literary phenomenon makes her American debut in "The Stranger Next Door". Selecting a secluded home in the south of France, Emile and Juliette Hazel think this isolated spot is perfect for their retirement--until they are confronted by a bizarre neighbor.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

A retired high school teacher and his wife buy a house in the country that appeals to them as the house for their golden years. They have been deeply in love since early childhood and look on each other not only as spouse but as each other's child and parent, heart and soul. This should-be idyllic scene is rent by the oppressor, in this darkly comic case an obese, irascible, grimly taciturn neighbor who appears at their door daily for a two-hour "visit." Husband and wife try a variety of coping strategies as the infernal visitations accumulate: gallantry, absurdity, rudeness. All is recounted with a straightforward grace that provides readers with a front-row seat at this black comedy of modern manners. This is the first of the young and already prolific author's books to appear in the United States. Readers will eagerly anticipate more.?Francisca Goldsmith, Berkeley P.L., Cal.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

Country life and neighborliness are fat targets in this savage little story, the US debut for young Brussels-based Nothomb, whose previous five novels have won acclaim in France. Emile Hazel, retired high-school classics teacher, relocates to the south of France with his wife Juliette, to what is for them a dream house, isolated and picturesque, and thus in every way the antithesis of their former city lives. On their second day of bliss, however, a knock on the door gives them a jolt, as their only neighbor, the grotesquely obese Dr. Bernardin, barges in for a cup of coffee. He stays for hours but won't converse, answering questions mostly in monosyllables. He proceeds to drop by punctually every day thereafter, with no change in attitude, forcing the Hazels to try a range of futile tactics to deter him. Even second-guessing fails: A dinner invitation to Bernardin and his wife, whom at first he steadfastly refuses to bring with him, results in a memorable evening as a bloated parody of a woman (nicknamed "the cyst" by her hosts) accompanies Bernardin and makes a meal of the chocolate sauce meant for dessert. The neighbor's solo visits continue, until finally Emile resorts to plain rudeness and shoves him violently out the door. The doctor does not return, but soon after a bout of insomnia allows Emile to rescue his neighbor from a suicide attempt, an act that binds them together in increasingly mysterious ways as the rescuer comes to realize the cruelty in his original gesture--and to make amends in a way that reveals alarming, unsuspected elements of his personality. This isn't the first time that the veneer of civilization has been stripped away to show monstrous urges beneath, but the tables turn here in a particularly eerie, chilling manner, in a combination of psychological astuteness and considerable craftsmanship. -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Henry Holt & Company (January 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805048413
• ISBN-13: 978-0805048414
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 4.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #582,915 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars True horror without a supernatural being in sight, January 12, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Stranger Next Door (Hardcover)

When Emile Hazel retires from teaching, he and his spouse Juliette move to an isolated home in Southern France. The radical change in lifestyle from the urban classroom to a locale with only one neighbor seems perfect to the Hazels. However, they are soon visited by their extradinarily obese sole neighbor, Dr. Bernardin, who demands a cup of coffee. The doctor keeps them company for several hours, but fails to hold up his end of any conversation.

The uninvited doctor starts visiting the resentful Hazels every day. Subtle and direct efforts to end the daily coffee break fail miserably, almost as if the doctor is immune to any actions by his "hosts". The Hazels eventually invite the doctor and his equally obese spouse for dinner. However, the next day, Bernardin renews his solo visits until a frustrated Emile literally shoves the doctor out the door. When Bernardin stops coming, a guilty Emile investigates why and soon finds himself even more deeply bound to his former guest.

THE STRANGER NEXT DOOR is a frightening psychological drama that rips asunder the veneer of politeness in modern civilization. The Hazels and their only neighbor(s) are all wonderful caricatures, a parody that surprisingly makes them all seem like genuine but grotesque human beings. Only a talent as good as Amelie Nothomb could accomplish such a feat in a poignant tale. Readers need not be concerned that this is a translation because Carol Volk does a terrific job without missing a beat.

Harriet Klausner

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bizarre!, February 12, 2004

By 

M. T. Guzman "squeakychu" (Rockville, MD, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Stranger Next Door (Hardcover)

Enile Hazel and his wife Juliette finally reach retirement age and the two, who have been in love since their childhood, move to their perfect retirement home--out of the city and in a secluded spot. That is, away from everyone except for a doctor and his wife who live in a nearby house. The doctor pays the Hazels a visit one day but sits most unappreciatively in a living room chair only answering Mr.Hazel's questions with one-word answers. When this neighbor returns every day at precisely 4 p.m., things begins to get uncomfortable for everyone.

I love the way the author constructed this story. It's short and to the point. I can't tell whether or not the author is poking fun at any of the characters because they are all so pitiful. The main character is a wimp who, at first, simply lets his neighbor call the shots. The neighbor is obnoxious and demanding. The wife of the neighbor has to be absolutely one of the most disgusting and repulsive characters I've ever encountered on the written page. The story itself is mesmerizing in a mysterious and creepy sort of way. I like how the action turns inside out, how the characters sort of turn into each other. I wonder what it all means. Perhaps it's a statement on man's need for solitude versus dependency. Or maybe it's to say that we can never predict how we'll behave in a given situation and will try different behaviors until we find one that works. Whatever meaning the author intends, this novel certainly is thought-provoking and well worth reading!

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Stranger is sometimes closer than next door, April 29, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Stranger Next Door (Hardcover)

U.S. publishers apparently have a plan to make Americans believe that all French writers are obsessed with Strangers -- that is, outsiders who live according to codes or manners beyond the bounds of that which most of us consider Normal. After all, we're familiar with Camus' L'Etranger, Gide, Genet and Celine. So Amelia Nothomb's THE STRANGER NEXT DOOR shouldn't strike us as so -- strange. Like Duras, Saurraute and other excellent French writers who've taken to heart the lessons of trimmed-down prose provided by THE GREAT GATSBY and early Hemingway, Nothomb tells an engaging story in a brief 150 pages. Through a series of encounters with the very odd couple living next door, the narrator -- Emile -- learns that he does not know himself so well as he had imagined. Eventually the strangers next door reveal to him the Stranger that lives within himself. Nothomb tells her tale so simply, the reader may have a tendency to shrug and say the story is completely unbelievable. However, the simplicity belies the probability and enhances the creepiness of the story. I'm reminded of the apparently illogical incidents that occur in Cornell Woolrich's stories: Incidents that simultaneously appear inevitable thanks to his direct prose and the world it builds. The horror resulting from those events is still horror; if such occurrences weren't inexplicable, would we still shudder? In THE STRANGER NEXT DOOR, Nothomb displays a great talent for pinpointing the terrors we hide internally. I look forward to reading more from her pen.