Author Courtney Psak definitely enjoys rich towns. Her debut, The Tutor (reviewed here) took place in the wealthy playground of Palm Beach, Florida. Her follow-up, The Hostess, is set in the Hamptons. Is there anything better than reading about rich people behaving badly?
The rich person here is Sadie, a psychiatrist married to billionaire Tom. Tom, an alcoholic who suffers from Dissociative Identity Disorder, is about to be released from a mental hospital. Not wanting to be alone with her dangerous husband, Sadie decides to rent out her guest cottage to Natalie and her husband Luke, who are trying to put their marriage back together after Natalie was hit by a car.
Natalie knows nothing of Tom, and she’s surprised and a little hurt when Luke tells her he can only come down on weekends for their month-long rental. A nurse practitioner, Natalie decides to stop taking her medication because it makes her hallucinate about her brother Danny, who died in a car accident when he was eight. Her parents always blamed her for the accident, and as a result, Natalie doesn’t want to have children of her own, a sticking point in her marriage. But when Natalie starts to fear the estate’s landscaper, Riley, and has visions of Danny, she doesn’t know what she can trust, and what’s real.
Sadie and Natalie form a friendship, and Sadie compares her to her best friend, Cassie. Natalie realizes she and Cassie look a lot alike… and starts to wonder what exactly happened to Sadie’s oldest friend.
The book is told from both women’s first-person points-of-view, and both of them seem enormously sympathetic (although Sadie is dismissive of her maid). While the writing isn’t as strong as The Tutor, Psak employs impactful plot points to move her story along. Both women’s lives seem credibly in danger… but the question is, from whom?
With its fast pacing and twisty ending, The Hostess is a fitting addition to the domestic suspense genre. It’s a good beach read for anyone taking a winter vacation to the tropics.
Thanks to Kaye Publicity for the book in exchange for an honest review.
Also by Courtney Psak: The Aunt (coming in June)
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