THE VILLA
Rachel Hawkins
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St. Martin's Press
1/3/23
Fiction / Thriller
Hardcover, 288 pages
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"This story’s finely honed interplay of creative ambition and haunting sadness makes it a step above. Hawkins pokes at the darker aspects of both true crime and self-help, and it works beautifully. Hawkins' star is definitely on the rise after two bestsellers, and this one will propel her further into the stratosphere."
-Booklist, starred review
"Friendship and professional jealousy fuel this nail-biter...Intense characters complement the brisk plot, which shifts smoothly between the present and 1974. Hawkins consistently entertains."
-Publishers Weekly
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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.
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. Perhaps Pierce’s murder wasn’t just a tale of sex, drugs, and rock & roll gone wrong, but something more sinister–and more clues may b hidden in the now-iconic works that Mari and Lara left behind.
Yet the closer Emily gets to the truth, the more tension she feels developing with Chess. As secrets from the past come to light, equally dangerous betrayals from the present also emerge––and it appears the villa will claim another victim before 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.
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Dear Reader:
I’m not sure I’ve ever written something as personal as The Villa. It’s a book starring writers, after all; two best friends, Emily and Chess, vacationing together at a fabulous villa in Italy that happens to be the site of an infamous murder back in 1974. This was the book that let me reimagine one of my literary heroines, Mary Shelley. Like any good English major, I’ve read Frankenstein about a dozen times, and on each read, I’m blown away all over again. Mary was only eighteen when she wrote it, estranged from her family, ostracized by society for running away with a married man, and staying in a Swiss villa that was full of more drama than a teen soap on the CW. What must it have been like, to write a book that would invent an entire genre, and also have to deal with Lord Byron? The mind boggles!
The Villa is my sixteenth book, and I can honestly say I have never enjoyed writing something more. I sincerely hope you enjoy reading it just as much.
Rachel Hawkins
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THE VILLA
Book Club Menu
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While I have not —to my knowledge— ever spent the night in such a blood-soaked location as The Villa, I did visit Orvieto in Umbria, the medieval hilltop town where the book is set. Atmospheric and Gothic, it felt a world away from sweaty, bustling Rome, and I loved revisiting it in fiction. Of course, any time you talk about visiting Italy, you have to mention the food! While I love pasta, a dish that always makes me think of Italy —and a dish I actually have Emily and Chess enjoy in The Villa—is a simple roast chicken with lots of lemon, rosemary, and sea salt. Pair with some grilled asparagus and a cold glass of Orvieto Classico—Orvieto's famous local wine, easy to find in most grocery stores--and you have your own Umbrian feast!
Save some limoncello for me!
-Rachel Hawkins
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