Diavola

Jennifer Thorne skewers all-too-familiar family dynamics in this sly, wickedly funny vacation-Gothic. Beautifully unhinged and deeply satisfying, Diavola is a sharp twist on the classic haunted house story, exploring loneliness, belonging, and the seemingly inescapable bonds of family mythology.

Anna has only two rules for the annual Pace family destination vacations: 1) Tread lightly and 2) survive.

Anna never quite managed fit into the family. Her twin brother, Benny, goes with the flow to the extent of practically dissolving, and her older sister, Nicole, is used to everyone falling in line--including her blandly docile husband and two kids — that she is. Not to be. Questioned. Mom seizes every opportunity to question Anna's life choices, and Dad, when not reminding everyone who paid for this vacation, just wants peace and quiet.

The gorgeous, remote villa in tiny Monteperso offers the perfect place to endure family togetherness. That is, until vacation start going off the rails — strange noises at night, unsettling warnings from the local villagers, and the dark, violent past of the villa itself.

(Warning: May invoke feelings of irritation, dread, and despair that come with large family gatherings.)

"Thorne's subversion of folk horror tropes and focus on small, intimate beats make for a gripping reading experience." — Publishers Weekly

"A very close exploration of grief, along with the ways it brings a community together and tears them apart, is the beating heart of the novel, palpable on every page." — Booklist (Starred Review)

"The novel's pages are dotted with gore and loss, sure to pull on the heartstrings — and occasionally the stomachs — of even the most stoic of readers." — Bookpage (Starred Review)

Jennifer Thorne is the author of Lute, The Wrong Side of Right, The Inside of Out, Night Music, and (with Lee Kelly) The Antiquity Affair. American by birth, she now lives in rural England with her husband and two sons.