Six women get together for a weekend to celebrate an upcoming wedding. The hen weekend (they’re British) will take place at the villa of an aunt of one of the women. The villa is in a small town in Greece, high in the hills but right on the water. If you can make it down the steep slope, you can swim in the quiet cove. But if you don’t want to, there is still the pool, which is close to the kitchen, where all the alcohol is.
Bella set the weekend up, with the help of her girlfriend Fen, whose aunt owns the villa. Bella has been best friends with Lexi since she, Lexi, and Robyn were in school together. They are being joined by the groom’s sister Eleanor and Lexi’s friend Ana for this celebration of Lexi’s upcoming wedding to Ed. Lexi asked that they forego the usual hen party games and just enjoy the weekend. Bella agrees, but she has some secrets that she’s neglected to mention to the bride.
When they were younger, Lexi had been a backup dancer and singer, touring with bands and partying all night. Bella had loved that too, staying up all night, drinking and dancing. Robyn tried to keep up, but she just wasn’t quite on their level. But now, despite her promises to Bella, Lexi is getting married. She met Ed, a lawyer a little older than she is, gave up her partying lifestyle to become a yoga teacher, and got engaged.
But that’s not the whole story. Lexi has a secret about her relationship with Ed. Fen has a secret about the villa. Bella had a secret that came out at the airport, and now she’s not sure if her relationship with Fen will last the weekend. Ed has a secret that Eleanor knows about, but she doesn’t know that it will come out that weekend. Robyn has been living a life with the volume turned all the way down and needs this weekend to find herself again. But it’s Ana who has the secret that could bring everything to a grinding halt.
As the days in Greece go by with the drinking and sunbathing, snorkeling off a yacht and shopping in Old Town, laughing and talking, those secrets that the women carry are like time bombs, ticking away under the surface, until they finally explode and someone dies. But what is the secret that blows up the weekend? And who will survive the aftermath?
Lucy Clarke’s One of the Girls is an exquisite thriller about the secrets we carry and the damage they can do to our relationships. Using the remote location of the villa traps these women with each other and with their secrets, until the only way out is through the truth.
I had so much fun on this trip. I loved the sun and the food, and while I didn’t drink nearly as much as these women did, I still had a great time. I am a sucker for stories with a closed setting and a bunch of secrets, just trying to find the light of day, and One of the Girls did not disappoint. There were layers of deception and a series of reveals that played out perfectly in the gorgeous Greece summer. for those needing a cutthroat thriller for the pool or the beach this summer, this may be the book you’ve been looking for.
Egalleys for One of the Girls were provided by G.P. Putnam’s Sons through NetGalley, with many thanks.
