The novel’s second thread follows the story of the occupants of the villa during that tragic summer-Mari Godwick, a young woman who writes a groundbreaking work of horror during her stay at the house her talented musician boyfriend, Pierce Sheldon, who is married to someone else famous rocker Noel Gordon, Mari’s sister, Lara, who will go on to pen one of the greatest albums of all time and name it after the house she spent that fateful summer in and Johnnie. The sun-drenched location not only seems like a perfect spot for them to write, but it also happens to be the location of a famous 1970s murder, where a largely unknown up-and-coming musician was killed. Struggling through a rough divorce, a contentious battle over her royalties, and writer’s block on her next (already overdue) novel, she jumps at the chance to get away from it all with her childhood BFF, the popular self-help author, and Instagram influencer Chess Chandler, invites her on a writing retreat for the summer, at a gorgeous villa in Italy. Told across dual timelines set at the same luxurious estate in Italy, The Villa initially follows the story of Emily Sheridan, author of a popular cozy series of mysteries who has had an exceptionally bad year. As it deftly shifts between timelines, The Villa tells a story of history repeating itself, of women struggling to be heard as partners and artists, and the toll that the act of creating art can take on those who are making it. The sort of book that’s easy to sit down with and suddenly find yourself finishing within a single sitting, Hawkins’ tale is propulsively paced and incredibly addictive.

But she’s bested them both with her latest novel, The Villa, a Gothic thriller that is somehow both everything you think it will be-and absolutely nothing you expect.Ī wildly creative story that combines a 1970s rock and roll reimagining of the famous summer at Villa Dodati in 1814 that gave birth to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, a competitive modern-day summer writing retreat rife with professional jealousies, and a deft exploration of the uncomfortable truths about the way our society views female artists of all stripes, The Villa is a rare thriller with something substantial to say-about the complexity of female friendships, how our society consumes true crime stories, and more. The Villa isn’t author Rachel Hawkins’s first fiercely feminist thriller-her The Wife Upstairs puts a modern-day spin on Jane Eyre and last year’s Reckless Girls is the first book I recommend to anyone who tells me that they’re going through Yellowjackets withdrawal while we wait for the show’s second season.

The villa rachel hawkins