Table of Contents
About The Book
“Fantastically gripping…this is fiction roaring on all cylinders.” —The Guardian
“A work of peculiar gonzo genius…Thomas takes a glamorous late-capitalist setting, with rosé and catamarans…and warps it into a story that is surprising, humane and political to its bones.” —The New York Times
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 rooms of 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 of the “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.
“Vibey, dark, and weird” (Allie Rowbottom, author of Aesthetica), 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.
About The Author
Scarlett Thomas was born in London. She is the author of highly acclaimed contemporary cult novels including The End of Mr. Y, which was longlisted for the Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction; Oligarchy; The Seed Collectors; PopCo; The Sleepwalkers; and the Worldquake series of middle grade books. Her novels have sold over half a million copies worldwide and been translated into twenty-six languages. Scarlett is professor of creative writing and contemporary fiction at the University of Kent. Find out more at ScarThomas.com.
Product Details
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster (April 9, 2024)
- Length: 304 pages
- ISBN13: 9781668033005
Raves and Reviews
“So is this a ghost story, or a time loop, or a memory play? For Thomas, nothing seems to be off the table. She shifts between erotic thrills, gothic drama, postmodern deconstruction and kitchen-sink realism. Through her bold storytelling, The Sleepwalkers becomes a work of peculiar, gonzo genius.”
—THE NEW YORK TIMES
"A wildly original summer thriller."
—One of the BBC's Best Books of the Year
"Fantastically gripping. . . The Sleepwalkers is the tattered, singed and bloodstained scrapbook of a disaster . . . Clever, emotionally resonant, packed with startling twists and dark turns and very funny indeed, this is fiction roaring on all cylinders."
—THE GUARDIAN
"The Sleepwalkers should come with a surgeon general's warning. Not because there's smoking in Scarlett Thomas' latest (there is), but because it's such dark, twisted, pervy fun that it might dent the psyche."
—MINNEAPOLIS STAR TRIBUNE
"I’ve no idea why Scarlett Thomas isn’t more widely read on this side of the pond—her writing is consistently funny and weird and crystalline."
—LITHUB
"Their letters to each other contain shocking revelations, which Thomas unspools masterfully, expertly building tension and jolting the reader in equal measure. Fans of literary fiction and thrillers will find much to appreciate here, with the slow burn of the story's beginning paying off exponentially once all the cards are turned over. A straight-up winner."
—BOOKLIST (starred review)
“A novel about secrets, family curses, and the past erupting into the present… from a seemingly fearless writer.”
—KIRKUS REVIEWS (starred review)
“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 and The Heavens
“A fabulously sly and slippery tale of a honeymoon that goes from bad to worse to even worse yet. Vivid, scalpel-sharp, and impossible to put down."
—KELLY LINK, Pulitzer Prize finalist and bestselling author of Get In Trouble
“Vibey, dark, and weird, The Sleepwalkers is like a poetic, sinister The White Lotus with even more plot twists. I loved it.”
—ALLIE ROWBOTTOM, author of Aesthetica
"Brilliant and utterly surprising, The Sleepwalkers kept me up late, ensnared by these pitch-perfect voices and desperate to know what was going to happen next, but also, what exactly happened in the past. A gut-wrenching mystery about how far we will go to keep our secrets, and how secrets can reverberate outward in shocking and devastating ways. Lush and deeply human, stylish and sexy and important, The Sleepwalkers will take your breath away."
—CHELSEA BIEKER, author of Godshot and Heartbroke
PRAISE FOR SCARLETT THOMAS
“A British writer who excels at delivering novels about difficult subjects, [with a] brilliant, incisive gaze."
—THE WASHINGTON POST
"Thomas has a perfectly pitched ear for human cruelty and self-delusion."
—ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY
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- Book Cover Image (jpg): The Sleepwalkers eBook 9781668033005
