The Villa by Rachel Hawkins Summary: A Gothic Italian Murder Tale
Introduction
The Villa by Rachel Hawkins splits its story between two summers at the same Italian estate.
In 2023, Emily McCrae arrives at Villa Aestas hoping to escape writer’s block and a messy divorce.
In 1974, Mari Godwick joins a group of musicians and writers at the same property, then called Villa Rosato, where a murder occurs.
Rachel Hawkins is an American author known for thrillers including The Wife Upstairs and Reckless Girls. She often writes about women navigating dangerous relationships and hidden secrets.
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TL;DR: The Setup and the Crime
Two timelines unfold at an Italian villa. In 1974, a young writer named Mari Godwick becomes entangled with musicians and artists.
A man named Pierce Sheldon dies, and Johnnie Dorchester is convicted of the murder. Both Mari and Lara release famous creative works afterward.
In 2023, Emily and her best friend Chess stay at the same villa. Emily finds Mari’s hidden manuscript and begins writing about the old murder. Her friendship with Chess grows tense.
The historical crime echoes in the present in ways Emily does not expect.
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The Villa Summary: The 1974 Story
Warning: Spoilers ahead.
Mari Godwick lives in a cramped London flat with her boyfriend Pierce Sheldon and stepsister Lara Larchmont. Lara is involved with rock star Noel Gordon.
Noel invites the group to Villa Rosato in Orvieto, Italy, for the summer.
At the villa, tensions rise among the five people staying there. Noel and Pierce compete for musical and sexual dominance. Lara feels ignored by Noel and learns she is pregnant.
Pierce’s wife Frances drowns herself in England after he abandoned her. Mari starts writing her horror novel, Lilith Rising.
On a stormy night, Johnnie Dorchester confronts Pierce about his cruel treatment of Frances. A fight breaks out. Later, a drunk Pierce smashes Lara’s guitar. Mari pushes Pierce. He hits his head on the stone floor. Mari then strikes him with a statue to stop his agonizing sounds.
Mari and Lara frame Johnnie, who is passed out from drugs. Johnnie is convicted and later hangs himself in prison. Mari publishes Lilith Rising.
Lara releases the album Aestas. Both works become famous.
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The Villa Summary: The 2023 Story
Warning: Spoilers ahead.
Emily McCrae is a cozy mystery writer facing chronic illness and financial pressure from her ex-husband Matt. Her childhood friend Chess Chandler, a self-help guru, invites her to Villa Aestas. Chess wants them to write a book together.
Emily finds part of Mari’s hidden manuscript under a window seat. She starts writing a true crime and memoir project. Then Emily discovers Chess has been reading her draft.
Chess wants to co-write the book. Emily also finds a file on Chess’s laptop mocking her as a failure.
Emily notices an ankle bracelet on Chess with an “M” charm. She realizes Chess slept with Matt. Chess admits the affair but claims she wanted to protect Emily from a toxic marriage.
The two friends decide to write the book together.
Matt still threatens Emily’s royalties and blackmails Chess. Chess lures Matt to Italy. Emily and Chess drown him in the villa’s pond. They frame it as a drunken accident.
Two years later, their joint book The Villa is a bestseller with an HBO adaptation filming. Emily knows she is bound to Chess forever.
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Summary by Chapter
Warning: Spoilers in this section.
This section provides a brief summary of each chapter.
The book contains 27 distinct parts: 15 modern chapters, 11 historical or epistolary sections, and 1 biographical excerpt.
Chapter One: Emily McCrae meets her childhood friend Chess Chandler at a café in Asheville. Chess is a famous self-help author while Emily struggles with writer’s block, health issues, and her divorce from Matt.
Emily feels a mix of warmth and resentment toward Chess’s success. Chess signs a book for Emily’s mother and pays the bill. They part in the rain with promises to stay in touch.
Chapter Two: Chess proposes a summer trip to Villa Aestas in Orvieto, Italy. Emily hesitates but agrees after reflecting on her stalled writing and financial stress from Matt’s lawsuit over her royalties. Chess mentions the villa was the site of a 1974 murder but dismisses it as rock star drama. Emily sees the trip as an escape and a reset.
Historical Section: Mari, 1974—London: Mari Godwick lives in a crowded London flat with Pierce Sheldon and stepsister Lara Larchmont. Lara is sleeping with rock star Noel Gordon, who invites the group to an Italian villa for the summer. Pierce wants to collaborate with Noel on music. Mari agrees to go, hoping to escape her grief over her deceased baby Billy.
Chapter Three: Emily travels alone to Orvieto and meets Chess at the train station. They drive to Villa Aestas, and Emily is stunned by the beauty of the stone villa, lawn, and pool. Chess shows Emily to a bedroom facing the pond. Emily tries not to think about the villa’s dark history.
Chapter Four: Emily and Chess enjoy a meal prepared by housekeeper Giulia. Chess plays Lara Larchmont’s album Aestas on vinyl. They drink limoncello, and Chess proposes they write a novel together, referencing an abandoned college project called Green. Emily agrees to consider it.
Historical Section: Mari, 1974—Orvieto (Part 1): Mari, Pierce, and Lara arrive at the villa and meet Noel Gordon and Johnnie Dorchester. Noel ignores Lara and focuses on Pierce and Mari. Pierce is eager to impress Noel. Lara mentions her own songwriting, but Pierce laughs it off.
Chapter Five: Emily wakes up hungover and ignores calls from Matt. She finds a paperback of Mari Godwick’s Lilith Rising in the villa’s library. She and Chess discuss how the movie adaptation scared them as children. Emily decides to read the novel by the pool.
Chapter Six: Emily and Chess work in the dining room. Emily struggles with writer’s block and admits her protagonist was based on Matt. Chess gives a self-help lecture about letting go of resentment. Emily leaves and finds an “M” etched into a hallway window, matching a detail from Lilith Rising.
Historical Section: Mari, 1974—Orvieto (Part 2): Noel interrupts Mari and Pierce in their bedroom. Johnnie flirts with Mari by the pond. Mari finds a note directing her to the hallway window seat. She sees the letter M etched into the glass. Inspired, she starts writing Lilith Rising.
Chapter Seven: Emily and Chess visit Orvieto. Emily listens to a true crime podcast about the Villa Rosato murder, learning Pierce Sheldon died and Johnnie Dorchester was convicted. They explore St. Patrick’s Well, which connects to a reference in Lilith Rising. Emily emails her agent about writing a true crime book.
Historical Section: Mari, 1974—Orvieto (Part 3): Trapped inside by rain, the group plays music. Mari wakes to see Noel and Pierce kissing. Pierce invites her to join them, and she does. The next morning, Mari feels no regret.
Chapter Eight: Emily has written ten thousand words of her new book. Giulia reveals her aunt Elena Bianchi was a maid at the villa in 1974 and testified at the trial. Chess admits she snooped on Emily’s laptop and read her manuscript. Chess aggressively proposes co-writing the book. Emily is furious.
Historical Section: Mari, 1974—Orvieto (Part 4): Mari and Johnnie go to Orvieto, but Noel tags along. Noel and Mari explore St. Patrick’s Well and discuss the legend of Lilith. Noel insults Johnnie’s music. Johnnie overhears the cruel words.
Chapter Nine: Chess apologizes with a picnic by the pond. Chess reveals Mari Godwick returned to the villa in 1993, the year she died. Emily searches the library and the window seat. She pulls out a folded stack of yellowed papers titled “Mari—London, 1974.”
Historical Section: Mari, 1974—Orvieto (Part 5): Pierce has a nightmare about Mari covered in blood. Mari uses the vision for her book’s climax. Lara plays a sad song on guitar, and the stepsisters reconcile. Lara reveals she is pregnant.
Chapter Ten: Emily hides Mari’s papers under her mattress. Matt calls and demands she sign a divorce settlement and threatens to sue for her new book’s royalties. Emily feels violently ill after the call. Chess claims she has not spoken to Matt.
Historical Section: Mari, 1974—Orvieto (Part 6): Noel refuses to marry Lara despite her pregnancy. Pierce shows no grief after learning Frances drowned. He plans to bring his son Teddy to London. Noel warns Mari to cut herself free from Pierce and Lara.
Chapter Eleven: Emily searches for more hidden manuscript pages. She snoops on Chess’s laptop and finds a document mocking her as “Emma.” She also sees Chess is planning a true crime project about the villa. Emily realizes Chess is stealing her idea.
Historical Section: Mari, 1974—Orvieto (Part 7): Johnnie kisses Mari, and she pulls away. Johnnie rages about Pierce’s hypocrisy and blacklisting. Pierce and Johnnie fight. Noel breaks it up. Pierce packs to leave, but Mari refuses to go because she is close to finishing her novel.
Historical Biography Excerpt / Elena’s Testimony: Maid Elena Bianchi’s court testimony exposed the group’s sexual tensions, Lara’s pregnancy, and the fight between Johnnie and Pierce. The media sensationalized the story. Elena later died of a drug overdose in the mid-eighties.
Historical Section: Mari, 1974—Orvieto (Part 8 – The Climax): On her final night, Mari finishes Lilith Rising. Pierce breaks Lara’s guitar. Mari pushes him. He cracks his skull on the stone floor. Mari bludgeons him with a statue. She and Lara frame Johnnie for the murder.
Chapter Twelve: Emily hides in her room and studies Lara’s lyrics. She sees Chess whispering on the phone. That night, Emily spots a gold anklet on Chess with an “M” charm. She realizes Chess is sleeping with Matt.
Chapter Thirteen: Emily attacks Chess. They fight on the drawing room floor. Chess admits she slept with Matt once in Kiawah. She claims she kept talking to him to protect Emily from his toxicity.
Chapter Fourteen: Chess argues Matt was psychologically poisoning Emily. They agree to write the true crime book together. Emily shows Chess the first part of Mari’s manuscript. A week later, Matt arrives at the villa after Chess lured him there. A magazine article reports Matt drowned in the villa’s pond.
Historical Section: Mari, 1980—New York City: Mari meets Noel in New York. He reflects on how the summer destroyed their lives. Mari calls Lara in California. Lara praises Lilith Rising but says she can never forgive their actions.
Chapter Fifteen: Two years later, Emily and Chess are bestselling co-authors of The Villa. An HBO adaptation is filming. Emily resents doing most of the writing. Chess toasts to “secrets and partnership.” Emily realizes she is trapped.
Historical Section: Mari, 1993—Orvieto (The True Confession): A terminally ill Mari returns to the villa. She writes her true confession: Johnnie actually killed Pierce in a drug-fueled rage.
Mari wrote the fictional confession because it felt cleaner and grander. She hides the true manuscript in two fragments. Mari feels at peace knowing the villa remembers everything.
Story Snapshot
| Element | Detail |
|---|---|
| Genre & Subgenre | Gothic Thriller / Dual-Timeline Psychological Suspense / Mystery |
| Core Narrative Tropes | Toxic best friends, creative block, dual timelines, murder house, framed for murder, unreliable narrators |
| Tone & Atmosphere | Claustrophobic, cynical, paranoid, lush, sun-drenched yet dark |
| Primary Conflict | Emily tries to reclaim her life and career from Matt and Chess while uncovering the 1974 murder. |
| Pacing Style | Steady-building psychological tension with alternating modern and historical sections |
| ISBN-10 | 1250834597 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1250834591 |
| Pages | 320 |
| Author Background | Rachel Hawkins is an American author of thrillers and young adult fiction. Her other books include The Wife Upstairs and Reckless Girls. |
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Characters In The Villa
| Character | Role |
|---|---|
| Emily McCrae | Cozy mystery writer in the modern timeline who discovers Mari’s manuscript and co-writes a book about the villa. |
| Chess Chandler | Self-help guru and Emily’s childhood friend who initiates the trip and later becomes Emily’s co-author. |
| Matt Sheridan | Emily’s ex-husband who sues for her royalties and is drowned at the villa. |
| Mari Godwick | Nineteen-year-old writer in 1974 who writes Lilith Rising at the villa. |
| Lara Larchmont | Mari’s stepsister and songwriter who records the album Aestas after the murder. |
| Pierce Sheldon | Mari’s boyfriend and a musician who is murdered at the villa. |
| Noel Gordon | Rock star who invites the group to the villa and is involved in the sexual rivalries. |
| Johnnie Dorchester | Noel’s friend and drug supplier who is framed for Pierce’s murder. |
| Elena Bianchi | Teenage maid whose court testimony helps convict Johnnie. |
| Giulia | Housekeeper at the villa in 2023 who is Elena’s niece. |
| Frances Sheldon | Pierce’s wife who drowns after he abandons her. |
| William Godwick | Mari’s father and a faded bohemian writer. |
| Rose Peterson | Emily’s literary agent. |
| Teddy | Pierce and Frances’s son. |
What Drives the Story
| Theme | How the book presents it |
|---|---|
| Female Friendship and Toxic Codependency | Emily and Chess’s lifelong bond includes jealousy, snooping, and eventually a shared murder that binds them permanently. |
| Sisterhood and Rivalry | Mari and Lara compete for attention and artistic recognition but create their famous works after the tragedy. |
| Artistic Creation Born of Trauma | Lilith Rising, Aestas, and The Villa are all created after violence or death involving controlling men. |
| Narratives and Reclaiming the Story | Mari writes a fictional confession claiming she murdered Pierce, preferring a grand gothic narrative over a senseless drug-fueled crime. |
| Gaslighting and Spousal Control | Matt uses financial and emotional pressure against Emily, while Pierce manipulates Mari and Frances. |
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