View source for The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz

{{infobox1
|title=The Writing Retreat
|sort=Writing Retreat
|author=Julia Bartz
|reviewer=Zoe Morris
|genre=Thrillers
|summary=A much longed-for opportunity quickly turns sour in this tale of a famous novelist and her posse of admiring followers.
|rating=4
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|pages=320
|publisher=Magpie
|date=March 2023
|isbn=978-0861544431
|cover=0861544439
|aznuk=0861544439
|aznus=0861544439
}}

Roza Vallo. Anyone in the world of publishing knows the name. Writers want to be her, agents want to represent her. She's something of a legend with an impressive, if compact, back catalogue of works that started with her breakthrough novel, published when she was barely out of childhood. Alex, a writer-slash-editor, is more than a little obsessed with Roza, and is stunned when, following a series of unexpected events, she is invited to be part of her month-long writers' retreat.

This retreat, though, is not about hot tubs and canapes and lounging by the pool. Along with the other young women (for Roza is a champion for emerging female talent), Alex is set a rather daunting task. But what are they there for, if not to be challenged? To grow as wordsmiths? To make the most of the isolated estate, with no distractions from the outside world, to find inspiration and produce their best work yet?

This book gets dark and it gets dark quickly, with tumultuous secrets hiding in the walls of Blackbriar estate. There's a fine line between madness and genius, and Alex rapidly realises Roza oscillates between both sides. Even the other young women are not all what they seem. The stakes are high and the knives are sharp, and when things start to go horribly wrong, Alex realises she's trying to get her body and her mind, as much as her story, out of there in one piece.

It's also a kinky read in places. What happens at the retreat stays on the retreat, but those scenes, along with the women's dreams and events prior to this month away, add an erotic twist to a story from which males are largely absent.

This is a book within a book, a writer writing about a writer writing, with snippets from Alex's new work interspersed throughout. Ironically, I didn't enjoy that writing as much, with neither the voice nor the subject one I could warm to, but it was a vital part of the overall story and I saw why it was there.

I read this book across a 5 hour flight and a morning by the pool. The blurb gave me some clues, but I was still unprepared for what emerged in the second half of their stay. As the peril increased, so did my interest, and I flew through the final third, needing to know who would be betrayed by whom, and who in turn would emerge triumphant.

I'd like to thank the publishers for sending us a copy to review.

If this sounds good, you might also like [[Stranded by Emily Barr]] which whisks you to Malaysia for another retreat with a sinister twist. 

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