There is something wrong with the Vaim Hotel, though The Guest cannot say what, or why he has come to stay. The only other person there is the hotel's owner, Brita, who runs it with brisk authority and swears she has seen him somewhere before, though he's sure she hasn't. As he acquaints himself with village life, eating each night at the restaurant Brita also owns, The Guest begins to sense that Vaim is not like other places. Then his belongings begin to slip away: fishing gear, shoulder bag, wallet, car keys - each loss drawing him deeper into debt. With no way to settle his bill, he must accept that his short trip has become an indefinite stay. Discomfiting, propulsive and shot through with dark humour, Vaim Hotel is a striking new novel from Nobel Prize in Literature laureate Jon Fosse, where everything is as it has always been, and nothing is as it seems.

Copyright © Jon Fosse, 2026
Translation copyright © Damion Searls, 2026
Published as Vaim Hotel by Det Norske Samlaget in 2026
Published by agreement with Winje Agency A/S, Norway