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The Guest List

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2020 novel by Lucy Foley
The Guest List
AuthorLucy Foley
LanguageEnglish
GenreMystery novel
Publisher
Publication dateMay 2020
Pages320
ISBN978-0-06-286893-0

The Guest List is a 2020 mystery novel by British author Lucy Foley. The story takes place at the wedding of Jules Keegan and Will Slater, which is being held on an island off the coast of Ireland. The plot has been compared to the works of Agatha Christie, as a murder occurs with limited suspects and each guest has a secret which will be revealed.

It was published in May 2020 by HarperCollins and on 2 June 2020 by William Morrow. It became a New York Times, Sunday Times and Washington Post bestseller, selling over a million copies in 30 territories. The novel was named one of the best thrillers of 2020 by The New York Times, was longlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger Award and won the 2020 Goodreads Choice Award for Mystery and Thrillers.

Plot

Friends and family are invited to the wedding of Jules Keegan, a magazine editor, and Will Slater, the host of a popular survival reality show called "Survive the Night", which is taking place at an island off the coast of Ireland. The novel begins the night of the wedding, when a storm hits the island and causes a blackout; the lights come up to reveal that one waitress has found a dead body. Moving backward and forward through time, and cutting between the perspectives of various characters, the guests arrive on the island, which is owned by Aoife, a wedding planner, and her husband Freddy, a chef.

Hannah and her husband Charlie are guests of Jules, as Charlie is her childhood best friend, but Hannah is suspicious of how close the friends are and retreats to a cave, where she meets Jules's younger half sister, Olivia. The other guests include Will's best man, Johnno, and his ushers, Femi, Angus, Duncan, and Peter, who all attended the same boarding school. Each of the guests is hiding a secret, which is revealed throughout the course of the novel.

Background and publication

Inishbofin, which inspired the setting of the novel, in 2018

Lucy Foley published her previous thriller novel The Hunting Party in 2019, which was a bestseller. Foley originally intended to set the novel on a Greek island but while on Inishbofin, an island off Connemara in Ireland, she decided that it would be a better setting. Many reviews compared the novel to the works of Agatha Christie, particularly And Then There Were None and Murder on the Orient Express. Similar to Christie's works, Foley often writes closed circle mysteries, wherein the murderer cannot escape the scene of the crime and there are limited suspects.

The novel was published in May 2020 by HarperCollins and on 2 June 2020, by William Morrow. The audiobook was published by Harper Audio in 2020 and was voiced by an ensemble cast of Jot Davies, Chloe Massey, Olivia Dowd, Aoife McMahon, Sarah Ovens and Rich Keeble.

Reception

The Guest List received generally positive reviews, including a starred review from Library Journal. According to Book Marks, the book received "positive" reviews based on 4 critic reviews with 2 being "rave" and 1 being "positive" and 1 being "mixed". In Books in the Media, a site that aggregates critic reviews of books, the book received a (4.17 out of 5) from the site which was based on 3 critic reviews.

It became a New York Times, Sunday Times and Washington Post bestseller, selling over a million copies in 30 territories. The novel was named one of the best thrillers of 2020 by The New York Times, was longlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger Award and won the 2020 Goodreads Choice Award for Mystery and Thrillers. It was chosen as a pick for Reese's Book Club. The audiobook was a 2021 Audies Finalist.

The Library Journal praised the setting and Foley's ability to navigate a complex plot with eight characters' perspectives. The plot was described by Marie Clarie as "enthralling", with Harper's Bazaar commenting that "Foley has honed her unique brand of reverse-whodunit suspense down to a science". However it received a mixed review from Publishers Weekly, which praised the setting but criticized the twists as not matching the novel's tone. Jane Murphy in a review for Booklist argued that the dark tension detracts from the novel in places but commented that the tone and plot will be enjoyed by fans of the genre. Good Housekeeping and The Washington Post praised the tension, which was described by the former as "building to breaking point", and the atmosphere, including peat bogs, a mansion and caves.

Adaptation

On October 24, 2023, it was announced that Hulu will be adapting the novel into a television miniseries. Liz Tigelaar will be the executive producer as well as Lucy Foley.

References

  1. Flood, Alison (24 February 2020). "The best recent thrillers – review roundup". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
  2. ^ "The Guest List". Booklist. 1 April 2020. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
  3. ^ Egan, Elisabeth (13 August 2020). "Missing Weddings? Lucy Foley's Sinister Best Seller Will Cheer You Up". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
  4. ^ Delgado, Adriana (1 May 2020). "The Guest List". Library Journal. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
  5. "Summer Reading". The New York Times. 20 May 2020. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
  6. ^ Memmott, Carol (22 June 2020). "You're not alone: Thrillers and mysteries that also feature characters stuck in isolation". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
  7. Vogel, Dana (26 June 2020). "17 New Thrillers That Will Keep Your Summer Exciting". BuzzFeed News. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
  8. ^ E.Q. (2020). "The Guest List". AudioFile Magazine. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
  9. "The Guest List". Book Marks. Retrieved 16 January 2024.
  10. "The Guest List Reviews". Books in the Media. Archived from the original on 15 May 2021. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
  11. "Washington Post paperback bestsellers". The Washington Post. 11 August 2021. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
  12. D'Alessandro, Anthony (3 April 2022). "Sony's 3000 Pictures Picks Up Film Rights To Lucy Foley Bestseller 'The Paris Apartment'". Deadline. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
  13. Lyall, Sarah (10 December 2020). "The Best Thrillers of 2020". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
  14. "CWA Dagger Awards 2020 Longlists Announced". The Crime Writers' Association. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
  15. "Best Mystery & Thriller". Goodreads. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
  16. Barbeito, Camila (27 October 2020). "The Guest List by Lucy Foley". Popsugar. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
  17. Cocoran, Lucy (21 September 2021). "The Are The Best Bingeable Books You Can't Put Down". Marie Claire. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
  18. Weiss, Keely (2 July 2020). "16 Thriller Books That'll Give You Instant Goosebumps". Harper's Bazaar. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
  19. "The Guest List". Publishers Weekly. May 2020. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
  20. Finney, Joanne (7 May 2021). "The best thrillers and crime novels to read". Good Housekeeping. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
  21. Goldberg, Lacey Rose, Lesley; Rose, Lacey; Goldberg, Lesley (2023-10-24). "Hulu and Liz Tigelaar Are Adapting Another Buzzy Best-Seller (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2024-02-27.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  22. Manfredi, Lucas (2023-10-24). "'The Guest List' Limited Series in the Works at Hulu". TheWrap. Retrieved 2024-02-27.
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