The Sleepwalkers

** A WATERSTONES THRILLER OF THE MONTH **WHAT DARK SECRETS WAIT TO BE UNCOVERED WHEN YOU CHECK IN TO THE VILLA ROSA?The scintillating new novel from the author ofThe End of Mr YClever, emotionally resonant, packed with startling twists and dark turns and very funny indeed, this is fiction roaring on all cylinders.GuardianGloriously dark and tangled . . . clever . . . I highly recommend it. ObserverA dark, twisty, savagely humorous plunge into a cauldron of toxic relationships . . . as well as a mystery loaded with menace, this is a smart, layered, stinging look at power and its abuse.The TimesThrough her bold storytelling, The Sleepwalkers becomes a work of peculiar, gonzo genius. Thomas takes a glamorous late-capitalist setting, with ros and catamarans, and shreds, twists and warps it into a story that is surprising, humane and political to its bones.New York TimesThomas tells her story with the craft and cunning of an Aegean sorceress. [S]he can make metafiction not just smart but fun. Once more she earns her place in a postwar British canon of playfully serious mavericks that runs from Muriel Spark and Brigid Brophy to Nicola Barker and Ali Smith.SpectatorLike a darker, funnier The White Lotus, The Sleepwalkers is horrifying in the best possible way. I loved every moment of it. James SmytheThe Sleepwalkers is brilliant, savage and hilarious. The voice is so strong and so distinctive from the get-go, so bold and pitilessly funny. There is no whingeinghere, just a fearless takedown which I read through in a single streak of pure delight. This is Scarletts best yet, and I dont say that lightly. Bidisha MamataThe Sleepwalkersis never-endingly surprising and full of keen observations on relationships, politics, and art. Thomas makes real life so fraught with meaning, it feels hauntingly supernatural. A twisty Gothic tale of vertiginous depths and haunting power.Sandra Newman, author of JuliaThis original thriller has plenty of surprises. Good HousekeepingAn attractive summer holiday read, IndependentOne of theDailyTelegraphs20 Best New Crime Thrillers to Read this Summer, 2024Still reeling from the chaos of their wedding, Evelyn and Richard arrive on an idyllic Greek island for their honeymoon. Its the end of the season and out at sea a storm is brewing.They check in to an exclusive hotel, the Villa Rosa, where the proprietor Isabella a strangely intense woman of indeterminate accent flirts outrageously with Richard while treating Evelyn with a rudeness bordering on contempt. Isabella tells them the story of the sleepwalkers: a couple who stayed at the hotel the year before and drowned in a tragic and unexplained accident. It starts to feel like the entire island is obsessed with the sleepwalkers, but what at first seems like a fun tale to tell before bed quickly evolves into a living nightmare.Caught in a web of deception and intrigue, where nothing and nobody are quite what they seem, Evelyn and Richard discover that their island paradise may in fact be hell on earth and that their only means of escape is to confront dark truths about themselves and those they love.Exhilarating, suspenseful, and subversively funny, inThe SleepwalkersThomas takes elements of Daphne Du Maurier and Patricia Highsmith and blends them with her own unique sensibility to create an unforgettable thriller of rare intelligence that cements her reputation as the most exciting and original author of her generation.Muriel Sparks disreputable niece.SpectatorShes a genius. Douglas CouplandThomas has the mesmerising power of a great story teller. Financial TimesOne of the most startling, unpredictable writers of her generation.Scotsman