The Villa: A Novel
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!
"Hawkins weaves an engrossing tale about betrayal, sisterhood, and the power of telling your own story. Captivating!" --People "Hawkins is the reigning queen of suspense." --Heather Gudenkauf, New York Times bestselling author The bestselling author of The Wife Upstairs returns with a brilliant new gothic suspense set at an Italian villa with a dark history. As kids, Emily and Chess were inseparable. But by their 30s, their bond has been strained by the demands of their adult lives. So when Chess suggests a girls trip to Italy, Emily jumps at the chance to reconnect with her best friend. Villa Aestas in Orvieto is a high-end holiday home now, but in 1974, it was known as Villa Rosato, and rented for the summer by a notorious rock star, Noel Gordon. In an attempt to reignite his creative spark, Noel invites up-and-coming musician, Pierce Sheldon to join him, as well as Pierce's girlfriend, Mari, and her stepsister, Lara. But he also sets in motion a chain of events that leads to Mari writing one of the greatest horror novels of all time, Lara composing a platinum album--and ends in Pierce's brutal murder. As Emily digs into the villa's complicated history, she begins to think there might be more to the story of that fateful summer in 1974. That perhaps Pierce's murder wasn't just a tale of sex, drugs, and rock & roll gone wrong, but that something more sinister might have occurred--and that there might be clues hidden in the now-iconic works that Mari and Lara left behind. Yet the closer that Emily gets to the truth, the more tension she feels developing between her and Chess. As secrets from the past come to light, equally dangerous betrayals from the present also emerge--and it begins to look like the villa will claim another victim before the summer ends. Inspired by Fleetwood Mac, the Manson murders, and the infamous summer Percy and Mary Shelley spent with Lord Byron at a Lake Geneva castle--the birthplace of Frankenstein--The Villa welcomes you into its deadly legacy.BUY THE BOOK
These clubs recently read this book...
Community Reviews
I truly have no words for this book other than holy shit you need to read it. By no means am I a huge reader however, I couldn’t put this book down. It’s far from predictable and once you get the hang of popping back and forth between the two timelines it’s seamless on how well it’s written.
3.5 STARS
The plot seemed so intriguing for this one. Sex, drugs, and rock n roll set against an idyllic summer in a gothic Italian villa and sprinkled with a twinge of murder mystery? I'm in! I really liked the setup of dual plotlines, with one taking place back in the 70s and the other set in present day. The inclusion of pop culture pieces published through the decades following the murder in Orvieto was a really nice touch too. I did find the present storyline with Emily and Chess to be a little predictable, and I figured out the first major twist by midway through. It took a while to also get invested in these characters as they were both fairly unlikeable in my opinion. Overall, other than the final twist in this plotline, the present storyline felt to me just a tad dull and unsurprising. I much preferred the past storyline with step-sisters Mari and Lara, and how their magical and ill-fated summer in Italy birthed two iconic record-breaking pieces of popular culture. I must say I was fairly surprised with the final chapter in Mari's story and how she chose to take control of the narrative which ended up having disastrous effects in the future. I enjoyed when the plotlines started converging and secrets were finally being revealed from both ends but I found myself wanting more from the final revelations. A fluffy easy page-turner.
The plot seemed so intriguing for this one. Sex, drugs, and rock n roll set against an idyllic summer in a gothic Italian villa and sprinkled with a twinge of murder mystery? I'm in! I really liked the setup of dual plotlines, with one taking place back in the 70s and the other set in present day. The inclusion of pop culture pieces published through the decades following the murder in Orvieto was a really nice touch too. I did find the present storyline with Emily and Chess to be a little predictable, and I figured out the first major twist by midway through. It took a while to also get invested in these characters as they were both fairly unlikeable in my opinion. Overall, other than the final twist in this plotline, the present storyline felt to me just a tad dull and unsurprising. I much preferred the past storyline with step-sisters Mari and Lara, and how their magical and ill-fated summer in Italy birthed two iconic record-breaking pieces of popular culture. I must say I was fairly surprised with the final chapter in Mari's story and how she chose to take control of the narrative which ended up having disastrous effects in the future. I enjoyed when the plotlines started converging and secrets were finally being revealed from both ends but I found myself wanting more from the final revelations. A fluffy easy page-turner.
See why thousands of readers are using Bookclubs to stay connected.