An isolated woman clashes with an enigmatic visitor in this funny, jagged parable about integration, difference and hospitality An isolated young woman living in a small Swiss town decides to take in a mysterious stranger, known only as 'the visitor'. His arrival introduces disturbance into her carefully sealed life, and the longer he stays, the more confounding he becomes. His joy causes her sadness, his sleep brings her insomnia, and she becomes convinced he is sneaking into her room, even eating her socks. As she tries to impose orders and regulations on her opaque visitor, the woman's fantasies of power and control grow ever wilder. Sly, wilful and full of slanted humour, Overstaying is a profound and uncanny exploration of hospitality, integration and the stranger within all of us.

"A bizarre and beautiful psychodrama about hospitality, control and domination... Overstaying is a joy to read. It's tautly written, caustically witty, and replete with imaginative insights. I'm already excited to read Koch's second book; she is so perceptive, convincing and poised a writer that it makes you feel grateful that such a talent shares your world" - Telegraph

"A strange, brilliant fever dream... We might think of global conflicts, identity politics, border policing. But Overstaying refuses to give easy answers... It ought to outlast the current conversation about these issues. Given its intelligence, humour and originality, there's no doubt it will" - Financial Times

"A short novel of huge ambition... Hypnotic and masterly, this is a book that creates its own world, forcing us to look at our own through altered eyes" - TLS

"Marvellously surreal... Koch's astutely absurd text underscores just how permeable a self is, and how rife with little deaths and rebirths it is" - Frieze

"Uncanny, bizarre and outlandish, delivered with such charm and wry humour that this brilliant slim book is utterly captivating" - The Berliner

"It both welcomes and distances the reader, which is a rare feat and may be why the book won prizes in Germany and in Koch's home country of Switzerland. If there's any justice, it should do the same here" - The Critic

"Unforgettable... While Koch seduces the reader with the obvious enigma of the visitor, she also subtly creates a playful twist on a coming-of-age story" - The Millions

"Slim, dreamlike, and bizarre-in short, a perfect escape from all you're looking to escape" - LitHub, 'Most Anticipated Books of 2024'

"Comparing this magnificent first novel to the great Kafka does it no disservice - on the contrary" - Neue Zürcher Zeitung

"Full of dreamlike symbols of loneliness and alienation. Overstaying has the makings of a classic" - Die Zeit

"An intense, enigmatic - in the best sense of the word - debut of philosophical force" - Süddeutsche Zeitung

"A brave debut, remarkable in its literary aesthetics" - Deutschlandfunk