The Sleepwalkers -- Scarlett Thomas, Hardcover

From "one of the UK's most interesting authors" (Kirkus Reviews), Patricia Highsmith meets White Lotus in this surprising and suspenseful modern gothic story following a couple running from both secretive pasts and very present dangers while honeymooning on a Greek island.

Still reeling from the chaos of their wedding, Evelyn and Richard arrive on a tiny Greek island for their honeymoon. It's the end of the season and a storm is imminent. Determined to make the best of it, they check into the sun-soaked doors of the Villa Rosa. Already feeling insecure after seeing the "beautiful people," the seemingly endless number of young models and musicians lounging along the Mediterranean, Evelyn is wary of the hotel's owner, Isabella, who seems to only have eyes for Richard.

Isabella ostensibly disapproves of every request Evelyn makes, seemingly annoyed at the fact that they are there at all. Isabella is also preoccupied with her chance to enthrall the only other guests--an American producer named Marcus and his partner Debbie--with the story of "the sleepwalkers," a couple who had stayed at the hotel recently and drowned.

Everyone seems to want to talk about the sleepwalkers, save for Hamza, a young Turkish man Evelyn had seen with some "beautiful people," as well as the "dapper little man"--the strange yet fashionable owner of the island's lone antiques and gift shop she sees everywhere.

But what at first seemed eccentric, decorative, or simply ridiculous, becomes a living nightmare. Evelyn and Richard are separated the night of the storm and forced to face dark truths, but it's their confessions around the origins of their relationship and the years leading up to their marriage that might save them.

Exhilarating, suspenseful, and also very funny, The Sleepwalkers asks urgent questions about relationships, sexuality, and the darkest elements of contemporary society--where our most terrible secrets are hidden in plain sight.

Author: Scarlett Thomas
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Published: 04/09/2024
Pages: 304
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.90lbs
Size: 8.40h x 5.60w x 1.30d
ISBN: 9781668032985

Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 02/01/2024
Publishers Weekly 02/05/2024
Booklist 02/15/2024 pg. 23

About the Author
Scarlett Thomas was born in London. She is the author of the Worldquake series. She is also the author of nine books for adults, including Oligarchy, PopCo, The End of Mr. Y, which was longlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction in 2007 (formerly known as Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction), and Our Tragic Universe. She teaches creative writing at the University of Kent.