The Sleepwalkers

About the book

The scintillating new novel from the author of The End of Mr Y

Patricia Highsmith meets White Lotus in this compulsive and brilliant gothic thriller

‘Like a darker, funnier The White Lotus, The Sleepwalkers is horrifying in the best possible way. I loved every moment of it.’ James Smythe
 
‘The 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 whingeing here, just a fearless takedown which I read through in a single streak of pure delight. This is Scarlett's best yet, and I don't say that lightly.’ Bidisha Mamata

'The Sleepwalkers is 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 Julia

‘Muriel Spark’s disreputable niece’ Spectator 

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 enthral 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, 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 subversively 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.

‘She's a genius’ Douglas Coupland
 
‘Thomas has the mesmerising power of a great story teller.’ Financial Times
 
‘One of the most startling, unpredictable writers of her generation’ Scotsman