The Stranger Next Door

The Stranger Next Door is a novel by the Belgian writer Amélie Nothomb, first published in 1995. It is the fourth of her novels.

The book opens when a retired couple, Émile and Juliette Hazel, realize their dream of buying a house in the woods, far from the city, where they can live alone together, away from the frenzy of the world. Their only neighbours are an elderly doctor and his wife, who live in a small house nearby. Out of politeness, the Hazels go to introduce themselves, and so they meet Palamède Bernardin, who soon makes a habit of visiting them every day at four in the afternoon. He settles into the armchair he has claimed as his own, barely says a word, and, punctual as ever, goes home at six. When the couple tries to learn more about him, they get the impression that he is uncomfortable. The visits gradually become unbearable, and the Hazels resolve to find a way to get rid of him.