Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

The Foreigners

2.57 of 5 stars 2.57 · rating details · 142 ratings · 44 reviews

A glittering, energetic novel about three women-each experiencing an awakening in the gloriously conflicted and sexy city of Buenos Aires.

Buenos Aires is a city of Parisian affections and national anxiety, of amorous young lovers, seedy ports, flooded slums, and a dazzling social elite. Into this heady maze of contradiction and possibility enter two women: Daisy, an Ameri...more

Hardcover, 272 pages

Published August 18th 2011 by Riverhead Hardcover (first published July 28th 2011)

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe

Bad Books with Good Covers

20th out of 32 books — 8 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 562)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Aug 24, 2011 Heather rated it 4 of 5 stars

In this tense and erotically charged new novel from Maxine Swann, three very different women experience life in Buenos Aires, Argentina amid a backdrop of tropical torpor and haute society. When Daisy, an American divorcee, escapes to Argentina after a medical scare, she’s at first withdrawn and alienated from her new surroundings and their inhabitants. When one day she’s discovered by Leonarda, a young Argentine woman with a strange sprightly outlook that hides a deep streak of masochism, Daisy...more In this tense and erotically charged new novel from Maxine Swann, three very different women experience life in Buenos Aires, Argentina amid a backdrop of tropical torpor and haute society. When Daisy, an American divorcee, escapes to Argentina after a medical scare, she’s at first withdrawn and alienated from her new surroundings and their inhabitants. When one day she’s discovered by Leonarda, a young Argentine woman with a strange sprightly outlook that hides a deep streak of masochism, Daisy is thrown headlong into a very confusing world of desire, repulsion and jealousy. Meanwhile, Isolde, a beautiful Austrian, is trying to use her looks and connections to climb into the upper echelons of Argentine society, but is finding that her brash neediness is undoing all of her careful work of ingratiating herself with the upper-class locals. As Isolde and Daisy experience a new world with very different rules than they’re used to, they’ll come face to face with their insecurities and strengths in a place where appearances and motives may be deceiving, and where their passions and fears are juxtaposed with the lives they left behind.

I have to say I wasn’t sure what to expect of The Foreigners. I had thought it would be a quiet story of a few women’s adventures abroad, with an emphasis on character development and a look into the exotic locale of Argentina. What I got was a dizzying ride into the heart of two very different women on the edge of a society that’s sometimes cruel and that prided itself on appearances and facades that were designed to make foreigners feel superior while being silently sneered at in private.

When Daisy arrives in Argentina, ostensibly to work on a grant project, she’s more aimless than involved, but that all changes when young Leonarda chooses her as a target for her whirlwind courtship and strange power plays. As the two get caught up in increasingly bizarre and dangerous forays, Daisy is held emotionally captive by a woman who seems to like to have people in her thrall and who executes malevolent games of desire and violence. As Daisy and Leonarda wind their way through the city, I was on the edge of my seat, wondering what was behind Leonarda’s manipulations and disturbing trysts with a man that she goaded Daisy into agreeing to humiliate. It was a volatile situation that grabbed my by the throat, and though I got the impression that Daisy felt the danger too, it didn’t stop her from being fully inveigled by the games Leonarda was playing. Working on Daisy’s visceral side, Leonarda began to warp her slowly, baiting her with passion, attention and complicity. It was a heady mix for Daisy, and for myself, and I began to see that although Daisy thought she had things under control, Leonarda was like a wild animal who would not be contained. The end result was a mix of obsession and jealousy that pricked Daisy violently and caused her to behave in some very uncharacteristic ways.

The situation with Isolde was also uncomfortable. Coming to Argentina seemed to be Isolde’s way of escaping the conundrum of settling down like the other women from her hometown. Isolde was an emotionally needy woman who tried to insinuate herself into the quasi-aristocracy of Argentina but who somehow kept getting it wrong. She was constantly humiliating and debasing herself in her desire to be at the center of the action, and her unfortunate relationships with all the wrong men kept her from being taken seriously in the right circles. Isolde was a beautiful woman, but along with her penchant for being pushy and overbearing, she was also running out of money and had no way of obtaining what she needed other than by promoting herself as an international art procurer. This was fraught with problems because Isolde had greatly embellished her credentials and experience, and often she would negate her chances by becoming romantically involved with her prospective employers. In Isolde there was a constant flux of self-sabotaging behavior that for some reason she refused to acknowledge or rectify. Isolde was constantly at war with herself and often her fear of being alone and unwanted made her do some very unwise things.

As things speed towards a conclusion, the situation between Leonarda and Daisy begins to turn very strange, with the prey becoming the predator. But is this merely what Daisy wants to believe, and will she ever really be able to turn the tables on a woman who refuses to be subdued and marginalized? Isolde, too, finds herself in very foreign straights and must come to accept a life that at times horrifies and embarrasses her. It’s at this point that the story begins to creep into the edges of the readers psyche and crouches there, waiting to spring into its final haunting conclusion. Obsession and mayhem turn to debasement and cruelty for one, and expectations come crashing down for the other, into a reality that is unpleasant and tinged with regret. Both women, seeing the futility of the lives they’ve led, begin to come to terms with what they’ve become and realize that there is indeed a way out.

I was greatly impressed with Maxine Swann’s narrative, and it was thrilling to be brought to the brink of suspense and discomfort by her elegant and spare prose. This was an emotionally charged book that kept me constantly reevaluating and that felt dire albeit in a very quiet way. It was also erotic at points without being vulgar, its strangeness tempered with a curious feeling of intimacy. I would certainly recommend this book to people who are looking for something different that will penetrate their sensibilities in a slightly untoward way. A fantastic read, and one that I would highly recommend.
(less)

like · see review

Jul 29, 2011 Cameling rated it 3 of 5 stars

Contemporary Buenos Aires exudes a sultry welcome to all. Her exotic charms entice all who visit and destroys the souls of those who aren't careful.

Daisy, a divorced American, flees to Buenos Aires, grant in hand,ostensibly to research and write about their waterworks, an area in which she is unqualified. Throwing off her conservative cloak, she is fascinated by Leonarda, a young Argentinian sprite with a yearning to tear the establishment. Isolde, a beautiful Austrian, leaps into the glittering...more

1 like · like · see review

Jul 09, 2011 Jaylia3 rated it 3 of 5 stars

I had never read anything set in Argentina which is what drew me to this book initially and in the beginning I was completely fascinated with the background and caught up in the story. First person narrator Daisy has gotten a grant to study the public waterworks of Buenos Aires--a field she knows nothing about--as a way to move on after her divorce and I felt like I had jumped into that adventure with her for a wild, try anything kind of ride. I loved the way the author laced the narration with...more I had never read anything set in Argentina which is what drew me to this book initially and in the beginning I was completely fascinated with the background and caught up in the story. First person narrator Daisy has gotten a grant to study the public waterworks of Buenos Aires--a field she knows nothing about--as a way to move on after her divorce and I felt like I had jumped into that adventure with her for a wild, try anything kind of ride. I loved the way the author laced the narration with enriching bits of history, culture, geography and even science, like the Cambrian explosion of animals, a sudden surge of biodiversity that Daisy felt she was experiencing in a personal way, and facts about invasive species, which the author uses as a metaphor for the foreigners who've come to settle in Argentina.

Daisy first meets Leonarda, or Leo, who is always creating a crazy scene, like stealing a cop's hat so she and Daisy suddenly have to break into a run and escape by cab, or kissing Daisy in a bar and then dragging her off just as they've attracted the undivided attention of every man in the place. But Leo gets more and more manipulative, even cruel, and it becomes very hard to understand why Daisy still feels the world is a bright interesting place only when Leo is around. In general, especially considering that Daisy is the first person narrator, I found her motivations unusually difficult to fathom as the book went on and she began intentionally cultivating Leo's ugliest, predator-minded traits in herself as a way of "breaking free."

Daisy next meets Isolde, an Austrian trying to parlay her European background and blond good looks to enter the cocktail partying, elite upper echelons of Argentinean society, though she is almost penniless and in Austria her position and accomplishments were nothing special. Isolde is the third women in the story and less important than the other two, but though not always admirable she at least remains a sympathetic character.

I'm sure there will be readers who love The Foreigners, and who "get" it in a way that I don't. For me, while the writing was often beautiful and I found the book initially engaging, even exhilarating, my final impression was marred by the baffled distaste I felt in the later sections.(less)

like · see review

Jun 27, 2011 Tara Chevrestt rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011-release, vine

First of all, where's the plot in this?? I didn't read much of a plot... To me, it was all a bunch of weird women living in Buenos Aires visiting their weird friends and banging their very weird lovers.

First of all, the narrator... She should have a stronger voice, but instead she just seemed to be following her friends around, letting them make her decisions for her.. Despite the fact she was narrating the story, her character was weak. She's also a moocher.. she's getting a free trip to Argent...more

5 likes · like · see review

Apr 06, 2012 Maureen rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012

I was really looking forward to reading this book as it had been highly recommended in one of the magazines I read that has book reviews (can't really remember which one). I had been to Buenos Aires a couple of years back and found it to be an incredible city, a little schizo, very European in many ways, but third world at the same time. Buenos Aires is like a beautiful woman who has aged - her bones are good, but she is shabby and worn.
In many ways that was one of the premises of the book, tha...more

1 like · like · see review

Dec 02, 2012 Jori Richardson rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-owned, spain-south-america

In "The Foreigners," a young American woman travels to Argentina to live abroad in the glamorous, exotic city of Buenos Aires. Upon her arrival, she is introduced to an eclectic cast of characters, including a gay stripper / medical student, a lustrous and vibrant Argentinian woman, an Austrian high society girl, and a wealthy older man. The book wanders through various experiences that the main character has with both these people and with the city itself.

I chose to request this book solely bas...more

like · see review

Aug 21, 2011 Meg - A Bookish Affair rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011, fiction, the-americas

This book is a book about coming into one's own and leaving inhibitions behind. Daisy comes to Buenos Aires to get away from it all. A chance to study the city's water system lands her a free pass into the city. At first, she feels sort of at sea in the country until she meets Leonarda, the most interesting character of all in this book. Leonarda stands for everything that Daisy wants to be: intelligent, carefree, and wild. Leonarda helps Daisy cast off some of the trappings of her old life and...more

like · see review

Aug 27, 2011 Emily rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: pop-lit

The Foreigners is slight novel in which the lives of three women -- a newly divorced and emotionally distraught American, a neurotic and desperate Austrian seeking upward social mobility, and an unpredictable and electrically sensual Argentine -- collide in different paths to self discovery in the beautiful, intoxicating, and despicable city of Buenos Aires.

I really enjoyed how Swann divides the novel into three sections, punctuated by scenes full of metaphor involving water and descriptions of...more

like · see review

Sep 04, 2011 Agnes Mack rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads

I received The Foreigners through the Goodread First Reads program and after reading the first chapter, I really wasn't sure that I'd make it through to the end. The writing was extremely laconic, to the point of abruptness. Short sentences. Telling you a few things. Sort of strung together. Abrupt, like I said.

Surprisingly though, the writing style grew on me and I eventually found myself somewhat fond of it. I don't think this was a result of the writing changing at all, but rather me adjus...more I received The Foreigners through the Goodread First Reads program and after reading the first chapter, I really wasn't sure that I'd make it through to the end. The writing was extremely laconic, to the point of abruptness. Short sentences. Telling you a few things. Sort of strung together. Abrupt, like I said.

Surprisingly though, the writing style grew on me and I eventually found myself somewhat fond of it. I don't think this was a result of the writing changing at all, but rather me adjusting to the writing. I started to see that it was actually quite melodic and lyrical.

Once I got used to the writing style, I was able to focus more on the story line. The plot centers around Daisy, an American woman who's recently gone through a divorce, and who decides that a change of pace would do her some good. She scams some company into giving her a grant to study the water in Buenos Aries (despite not being any kind of water expert or caring at all about water systems) and heads on down. Before long she's befriended two very different women, both of them foreigners. The story is that of their intertwining lives and the story of each of their struggles to escape from something.

There were parts of the plot that I found interesting enough, but most of it was about Daisy's acceptance of some terrible behavior on the part of a woman she met named Leonarda, who was a completely mentally unstable person who lied, cheated and was just generally awful. For example, at one point she convinces Daisy that they killed a man, when in fact it was all some elaborate game Leonarda was playing. I found these antics to be both annoying and dull at the same time.

Overall, I think there is an audience for this book. It was interesting to learn some things about Buenos Aries and there was one minor character, Gabriel, who I found quite endearing. Overall though, it was an overly complicated story told with very simple language. It did not manage to engage me and in the end was quite forgettable.(less)

like · see review

Sep 02, 2011 Amy Meyer rated it 3 of 5 stars

The Foreigners by Maxine Swann

Date Published: August 2011
ISBN: 978-1594488306
Publisher: Riverhead Hardcover
Pages: 272
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Rating: 3.0 out of 5

Publisher’s Book Summary: A glittering, energetic novel about three women-each experiencing an awakening in the gloriously conflicted and sexy city of Buenos Aires.
Buenos Aires is a city of Parisian affections and national anxiety, of amorous young lovers, seedy ports, flooded slums, and a dazzling social elite. Into this heady maze...more

like · see review

Oct 12, 2011 JoLynn rated it 2 of 5 stars

The Foreigners by Maxine Swann

There are three main characters in this novel set in Buenos Aires :

Daisy, an American, who has just gone through an upsetting divorce;
Isolde, Austrian, an increasingly desperate social climber;
Leonarda, a native of Argentina, who seems to crave adventure and excitement at any cost.

First of all, the descriptions of life and society in Buenos Aires were quite absorbing. The narrative and detail in this part of the book was lucid and compelling. Isolde's thread in the...more

like · see review

Mar 28, 2012 Cdelory rated it 2 of 5 stars

What a bizarre book this one was. Maybe not fair to rate only 2 stars, but it was just so strange (and I'm not opposed to strange). A woman needs to shake up her life after her divorce and moves to Brazil where she becomes infatuated with a quicksilver girl. She wanders a bit around the city looking a water resources for her research grant; I'm sure there was some deeper meaning behind all the water stories, but it was over my head (get it...). The quicksilver girl also decides to ensnare an old...more

like · see review

Mar 09, 2013 Susan rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is a mosaic of a book - peopled with deeply flawed and lost characters. Some find redemption, peace or comfort. Some flit across the page and never become real. I picked up the book because of the Argentinian setting. But I wonder if the premise - that the city is a landing point for people trying to escape themselves - couldn't be representative of any big city anywhere. In the end Buenos Aires didn't have much to do with the stories in The Foreigners.

like · see review

Jul 16, 2012 Nicole rated it 3 of 5 stars

...more like 3.5--it was more good than not. I liked the setting, the characters (for the most part), and the general outline of the story. There were times when I thought things got built up out of proportion and never really fleshed out (like "The Plan"), and a few surprising moments when the author's otherwise fine use of the language failed and yielded some rather clumsy, inexpert-sounding prose (like describing "boobs" with no apparent irony). But, it was a nice free trip to Argentina, with...more

like · see review

Apr 09, 2013 Kristina Pecora rated it 3 of 5 stars

I loved the first quarter of this book...Ms Swann described Buenos Aires, it's charm, it's mystery and its seduction in such wonderful detail that I was hooked. I cannot wait to visit! then, as the story progressed, she lost the thread of how the environment influenced the characters and I really started to lose interest! the characters weren't rich enough or different enough to stand alone outside the city, the lay of this foreign land. I finished the story, which was neither coming of age nor...more

like · see review

Jun 02, 2012 Cristine rated it 2 of 5 stars

I generally love books set in Latin American because of the culture there but this one bored me a bit. The characters were almost all self absorbed and pitiful. The only reason I stuck with it was because the character of Leonarda was so well done, intriguing and complicated.

I was annoyed with the main character because she had grant money to work on a project in Argentina and was blowing it off. What an incredible opportunity. I kept thinking she was wasting my tax dollars and not even apprecia...more

like · see review

Jan 03, 2012 Ty rated it 2 of 5 stars

First, I really didn't like the main character, Daisy, that much. I didn't really like Leo or understand what she was doing and all the games that went on between her and Daisy. I liked Isolde and would have much rather enjoyed her story in more depth. I also wanted to learn more about other minor characters like Gabriel, who led an interesting life. I enjoyed the descriptions of Buenos Aires and about society there.

like · see review

Aug 22, 2011 Maia marked it as to-read

Shelves: argentina, contemporary-fiction

As disappointing as Maxine Swann can be, and as annoying as I already find the tag line for this story, I simply know too much about Buenis Aires to field off a new novel about it! I truly doubt she'll get to say anytthing new or fascinatingly insightful (her many essays on the topic appear quite bland, an outrageous word in the context of mad as a hatter Argentina!) but I'll still read it. And hope.

like · see review

Feb 07, 2012 Clare rated it 1 of 5 stars

For a book with such an interesting premise (expats in Buenos Aires), this one was interminably boring. I think a lot of it had to do with the author's disaffected, Hemingway-esque writing style. (An expat writer who idolizes Hemingway...how novel.) There was also the inexplicable way she shifted between first and third person for her two main characters, and the way boring digressions on, say, plant species or water treatment practices would suddenly crop up in the narrative. (I guess these had...more

like · see review

Aug 26, 2011 Jennifer rated it 4 of 5 stars

I have barely started reading this book...I am about 60 pages in and loving it! The story so far is realizing a dream that I have had since I was a child. That of starting a completely new life in a new country. Once I have finished reading it I will leave a much more complete review.

like · see review

Mar 27, 2012 Darcey rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: south-america, culture, fiction

An interesting story - mostly from the point of view of one foreigner, but additions from a second one. What is it like to be an expatriate, an oddity in a foreign country? What about culture shock and adjustment? At what point do you "give up", and when do you keep on going?

like · see review

Jan 21, 2012 Danie rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is the story about three women in Argentina. It's an odd little book that at times found myself enjoying, and others asking myself why I was reading it. I found the most interesting aspect of the book the details given t the setting, and the information about the local waterworks that was a central theme.

like · see review

Jun 08, 2012 Rachel rated it 1 of 5 stars

Not sure I should say I really read this. I did read a little more than half and then skimmed the rest. It was for my book club. This book seemed to me to have no plot, no rising action, no climax. To sum it up, NOTHING HAPPENED. Ugh.

like · see review

Dec 02, 2011 Suz rated it 3 of 5 stars

Story of American Daisy and Scandinavian Isolde who escape to Buenos Aires, discovering themselves as well as the people and the culture. I can't say I would recommend this novel but enjoyed the descriptions of B.A. Daisy's relationship with crazy Leonarda was too much.

like · see review

Oct 20, 2011 Kay Wright rated it 3 of 5 stars

Slim volume about three young foreign women in Buenos Aires and how they settle into the culture. An unexpected delight. Sex and beautiful descriptions of the city but the story is pretty thin. Not for everyone.

like · see review

Jul 31, 2012 Diana Rocha rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads

It was a nice story of what could happen if you open yourself up to adventure in a new place.

a little bit weird, but weird is good :D

pretty much the main character just got out of a really bad divorce and took a vacation to argentina. she then met this crazy lady name leondra, and leondra is insane. shes is like conpricist and power crazy. and they do so many just out there thing together.

i cant say i didnt like, but i didnt love it. it was too boring, and then some chapaters had absolutely noth...more

like · see review

Aug 27, 2012 Kelly rated it 2 of 5 stars

Not terrible, just a little odd. The cover is beautiful though. I can't stop looking at it.

like · see review

Aug 26, 2012 Debra Kane rated it 5 of 5 stars

Fun fast read! Loved reading about argentina's culture.

like · see review

Mar 19, 2012 Dominique rated it 2 of 5 stars

Meh. This is what I get from selecting a book based on it's cover.

1 like · like · see review

Dec 01, 2011 Joey rated it 1 of 5 stars

I only finished this book because I was intrigued by the Buenos Aires setting (Abby and Chris are living there). And some of that was fun but the characters completely lack character and it is a very unremarkable story.

like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 18 19 next »

Contemporary

2 users

See top shelves...

Readers also enjoyed similar books

Books by Maxine Swann

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About The Foreigners

No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »

Quotes from The Foreigners

“‎"To choose is to age." Who said that? Who cares? I pictured myself taking a right, then a left, then a right again.” — 1 person liked it

More quotes…

title link	preview: The Foreigners
avg rating	preview: The Foreigners Goodreads rating: 2.57 (142 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10796186-the-foreigners?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1311282534l/10796186.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10796186-the-foreigners?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]The Foreigners by Maxine Swann[/url]

The Foreigners

Friend Reviews

Lists with This Book

Community Reviews

new topic
Discuss This Book

combine
Other Editions (5)

Genres

Readers also enjoyed similar books

Books by Maxine Swann

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website

Trivia About The Foreigners

Quotes from The Foreigners