Day: March 19, 2022

I started The Villa by Clare Boyd with a completely different idea in my head as to the trajectory of the novel. Family drama does not even begin to do this story justice. It went in directions that I completely did not see coming.

The reader knows from the very beginning that secrets are plentiful in this family. But there is no way of knowing just how twisted they can get.

And boy, do they get twisted.

The characters have a depth that is hard to find in family dramas. They are not caricatures.

Emma is prickly. She is difficult to like which makes her character most intriguing. I think we are supposed to think that she has a good reason to be that way, but I didn’t feel that was entirely fleshed out.

It is clear that she is holding a grudge for her childhood. But it doesn’t become clear until much later exactly what she is doing so.

Libby is the peacemaker. In reality, she is the one who should be most upset about…things. I don’t want to say more than that, because that is a twist that I do not want to spoil.

Let’s just say that is one of the biggest “oh my goodness” moments I have experienced in a book in a long time.

And then we have Nora. The matriarch, the reason for the trip to the villa, the person responsible for everything that occurs.

She struck me as an enigma. We know her history, but I am not sure that it came through in the character itself.

What was absolutely obvious, however, was that she lived her life on her own terms, and she was determined to continue to do so.

Again, no spoiler here. But the author has a perspective that may be shocking to some readers. But people who have parents of a certain age may not be surprised.

I know I have been cagey in this review of The Villa, but that is only because I think a reader should experience the family drama without any preconceived notions.

Clare Boyd has carefully crafted the story, and it deserves to unfold as intended.

Other books by Clare Boyd: The Pretty One; My Perfect Wife

Author Bio

Clare lives with her husband and their two daughters in Surrey, where her little green shed at the bottom of the garden provides a haven for her writing life. Before becoming a writer, she enjoyed a career in television, as a researcher in documentaries and then as a script editor in drama at the BBC and Channel Four, where her love of storytelling took hold.