Emma Cline will release her third novel, Switzy, on September 8, 2026, Random House announced. The book, revealed exclusively by News Of Losangeles, follows retired executive David Hastings as he confronts memory loss on a final global journey.
At a Glance
- Switzy marks Cline’s first novel since 2023’s The Guest
- Story centers on a man planning assisted death while traveling with his assistant
- Cover shows minimalist design with bold type
- Why it matters: Novel explores how facing a fixed death date reshapes memory, identity, and regret
The narrative opens as David, once a powerful business figure, learns his cognitive decline is accelerating. Rather than wait, he books a precise assisted-dying appointment in Zurich and sets out to use his remaining days with intention. Personal assistant Cody becomes his lone companion on a route that winds through London, the French countryside, and finally Switzerland.
Journey Through Memory
Cline structures the trip as a living scrapbook. Each stop forces David to sift through decades of choices:
- In London he visits an adult daughter he rarely saw after divorce papers were signed
- A vineyard outside Lyon hosts a reunion with a friend who once saved his career, then vanished after a boardroom betrayal
- Zurich’s sleek clinic waiting room becomes the stage where past and present collapse into one another
Random House describes the prose as “hypnotic and startlingly original,” adding that the book asks “what a man is left with when the accomplishments and compromises that have defined him, and the illusions he’s relied on, vanish.”
A New Internal Battle
Cline, whose debut The Girls sold over a million copies and earned a spot on the National Book Critics Circle shortlist, says she wanted to examine how a fixed expiration date distorts time. “Assisted dying offers humans the strange gift of knowing exactly when we are to die,” she tells News Of Losangeles. “Let’s say the exit is planned for a certain Tuesday morning at 7 a.m. How would this knowledge pressurize your remaining days? Your final night, your last meal, your last glimpse of sunlight?”
The author’s prior works explored external power structures-cults, privilege, social seduction. With Switzy she turns inward, probing the fragility of narrative itself. “I wanted to imagine what it might feel like to spend the last days on earth with the character of David Hastings, especially given his disintegrating mind-what would David cling to, what might fall away?” she says. “So much of the culture we inhabit requires us to pretend that we will never die. How do these illusions and fictions crumble in the face of the fact of our end?”
Awards and Accolades
Cline’s accolades include:
- O. Henry Award for short fiction
- Guggenheim Fellowship
- Finalist, John Leonard Prize
- Finalist, Center for Fiction First Novel Prize
Those honors helped secure a major print run and prominent shelf placement for Switzy. Pre-orders opened immediately after the News Of Losangeles reveal, with independent bookstores promoting signed first editions.
Publication Details
| Element | Info |
|---|---|
| Title | Switzy |
| Author | Emma Cline |
| Publisher | Random House |
| Release | September 8, 2026 |
| Formats | Hardcover, e-book, audiobook |
| Pre-order | Available now |
The cover art, also debuted by News Of Losangeles, features a stark Zurich tram against a pale sky, echoing the novel’s themes of transit and finality. Designers at Penguin Random House kept typography minimal, allowing the single-word title to dominate.
Key Takeaways
- Emma Cline returns with her most introspective novel yet
- Switzy confronts assisted dying through the lens of memory erosion
- A trans-European trip frames questions about legacy, regret, and acceptance
- Book arrives ten years after breakout debut The Girls
