The Fifth Season

Abstract This article explores representations of queer hospitality during the COVID-19 pandemic in two of Scottish writer Ali Smith’s novels, Summer (2020) and Companion Piece (2022). It examines the ways in which Smith’s Seasonal Quartet sought to produce “state of the nation” novels at a time of radically decentered and crisis-ridden national identity in Britain through recentering marginal and minority voices and experiences as at the heart of concepts of belonging and hosting.