RACHEL HAWKINS is the New York Times bestselling author of The Wife Upstairs and Reckless Girls, as well as multiple books for young readers. 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. Yet the closer that Emily gets to the truth, the more tension she feels developing between her and Chess. 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. 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.Īs 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. 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. 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. So when Chess suggests a girls trip to Italy, Emily jumps at the chance to reconnect with her best friend.

But by their 30s, their bond has been strained by the demands of their adult lives. Happy Publication Day to The Villa by Rachel Hawkins!įrom the New York Times bestselling author Rachel Hawkins comes a deliciously wicked new gothic suspense, set at an Italian villa with a dark history, for fans of Lucy Foley and Ruth Ware.Īs kids, Emily and Chess were inseparable.

The villa a novel rachel hawkins