The Villa

When I started this book, all I could think of was 'White Lotus' Season 2! Not the same, but most of this book IS set in Italy in a beautiful villa. Best friends since childhood, Chess and Emily grow up inseparable until Emily gets married and their adult lives come between them. Although they are both writers, Chess of the self-help golden girl variety and Emily, a mystery series writer, see little of each other until they reconnect at Chess's family home in Kiawah Island. Not long after, Emily's marriage dissolves, and she is dealing with crippling and mysterious health issues and a case of writer's block when Chess invites her to a home in Orvieto she has rented for some R and R. Emily jumps at the chance and becomes obsessed with the Villa's dark past. In the 70s, a group of rock stars and two sisters vacation there when something truly sinister happens, spurring the creative pinnacles of the two sisters, one a musician and the other a writer. As Emily digs deeper into the book created from that time, her relationship with Chess gets weirder by the second, and the end of this book is a shocker in every way. If you need a thriller to get you back in your reading groove, this a great one to pick up.