Melody's Reading Corner: The Villa by Rachel Hawkins

Melody

St. Martin's Press | 3 January 2023 | 288 pgs

Source: Library

"Houses remember." With this sentence it begins the story in Rachel Hawkins' latest release set in Orvieto, Italy.

Emily and Chess are good friends since young but their friendship kind of fizzled out as the years go by. Both of them are writers; the former writes cozy mysteries and the latter self-help books. When Chess suggested a trip to Italy one day, Emily knew this would be a chance to reconnect with her and that the trip would reignite her creativity in writing the next installment of her bestselling series.

Prior to the trip, Chess has booked themselves into Villa Aestas. Once known as Villa Rosato, the high-end holiday house is also famous by the stay of a notorious rock star and his entourage way back in 1974. Noel Gordon was on the verge of losing his creativity spark, so he planned on a Summer trip at Villa Rosato and invited up-and-coming musician Pierce Sheldon, his girlfriend, Mari, as well as her stepsister, Lara. Alongside was Johnnie, who was Noel's friend-cum-drug dealer. It was supposedly to be a trip of fun and relaxation, but the group’s dynamics took an ugly turn and ended one being dead.

Despite what happened at Villa Aestas, Emily and Chess are intrigued by the past and Emily even think that there might be more to the story and she's keen to find out more. After all, what could motivate her creativity more than this? But as Emily digs further, the tension between her and Chess also rises due to some unforeseen circumstances and a secret one harbours from the other. Will history repeat itself in Villa Rosato?

I enjoyed this story a lot. I loved the alternative storyline between the present and the past. Villa Rosato was atmospheric on its own but regrettably there wasn't much coverage of this rented holiday house but there was sure a lot of tension among Noel's group of friends. It was a treat reading how the story in 1974 unfold; and how intriguing to learn more about the dynamics between Emily and Chess in the present at the same time. I've read comments by some readers that they preferred more of the present story, but in my opinion both are good and equal in terms of intrigue and one wouldn't stand out and/or proceed without the other. If you ask me, I was most intrigued by Mari as a character; not only was she a writer like Emily and Chess but her inner thoughts as well. I think the ending is a love-it or hate-it kind of closure and personally I found it quite fitting to the overall tone of the story.

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