I love to read books about and featuring writers, aspiring writers especially, and their dreams of a writing retreat where they are allowed to do nothing than write. Wishing well to all those able to take this creative risk, while I am struggling to have at least 20 quiet minutes per day only for myself. And I may have a lot of literary fantasies about a psychological thriller named The Writing Retreat.
Thus, I had a lot of expectations about the debut novel by practising therapist Julia Bartz. And the book largely overcome my expectations, for all the good and bad reasons.
A group of talented aspiring young female writers under 30 are invited to take part at a special writing retreat organised in a remote area by a feminist woman author of horror stories, of Jewish-Hungarian origin, Roza Vallo. During one month, they are supposed to write regularly their novel in a ´Victorian fortress´. A strict narcissist with an exaggerate sense of discipline, she turns into a psychopath trying to use - and eventually murder - the girls, once her dirty secrets are discovered. The story is told by Alex, one of the last minute invitee, together with Wren, a manipulative ex-girlfriend.
There are so many topics maginified in this topic, from the cultish position of Roza to the poison of success, and the terrific answer to the question: How far would you get to be a famous, published author? There is a cartoonish representation of those topics and maybe a noir irony infusing the interactions between characters, particularly the adulative part.
Talking about characters, I haven´t read in a long time a book where almost all the characters are despicable, morally ambigous and with out of their control psychotic tendencies. And the problem of having so many psychotic character in the same room is that they may get completely out of control. This is what I´ve felt about the book, starting from the middle of the story onwards. The level of craziness is entropically escalating until it´s just blood and mindgames. I´ve found some interactions and exchanges really odd, as when Roza asked one of the girls to kill the other one and the answer was: ´Really?´ As simple as that. It´s hard to find another nonsense answer to such a question.
The ending, written by Alex the storyteller, six month after, it resonates with all the symptoms of a simplified Stockholm syndrome.
Although the topics - some for sure - developed in The Writing Retreat and the idea may sound very interesting, nevertheless the context and events looked too forced and cartoonish, but maybe I have some special tests when it comes to thrillers.
Rating: 3 stars
Disclaimer: Book offered by the publisher in exchange for an honest review
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