His arrival is a test of generosity or gullibility or gumption, and it will forever change the lives of the occupants of the house.Ī variation on this plot was used by Jean Renoir in his 1932 film 'Boudu Saved From Drowning' and by Paul Mazursky in 'Down and Out in Beverly Hills,' his 1986 remake of 'Boudu.' Another variation was used by Pier Paolo Pasolini in his 1968 movie 'Teorema,' starring Terence Stamp as the mysterious stranger who seduces nearly everyone in the house before exiting their lives.

When Eve finally banishes her from the cottage, Amber disappears from their sight, but not-they discover when they return home to London-from their profoundly altered lives.įearlessly intelligent and written with an irresistible blend of lyricism and whimsy, The Accidental is a tour de force of literary improvisation that explores the nature of truth, the role of chance, and the transformative power of storytelling.The plot sounds like one of those old folk tales, in which a stranger knocks on the door of a house and asks for shelter from the storm - or says he has lost his way or claims he's an expected guest. Instead, dazzled by her seeming exoticism, the Smarts begin to examine the accidents of their lives through the searing lens of Amber’s perceptions.

Son Magnus, age seventeen, thinks she’s an angel.Īs Amber insinuates herself into the family, the questions of who she is and how she’s come to be there drop away. Daughter Astrid, age twelve, thinks she’s her mother’s friend. Michael, an English professor, knows only that her car broke down. She stays for dinner.Įve Smart, the author of a best-selling series of biographical reconstructions, thinks Amber is a student with whom her husband, Michael, is sleeping. Jeanette Winterson has praised her for her “style, ideas, and punch.” Here, in a novel at once profound, playful, and exhilaratingly inventive, she transfixes us with a portrait of a family unraveled by a mysterious visitor.Īmber-thirtysomething and barefoot-shows up at the door of the Norfolk cottage that the Smarts are renting for the summer. Jonathan Safran Foer has called her writing “thrilling.”

Winner of the Whitbread Award for best novel and a finalist for the Man Booker Prize, The Accidental is the virtuoso new novel by the singularly gifted Ali Smith.

The Accidental by Ali Smith