For Thomas, nothing seems to be off the table. She shifts between erotic thrills, gothic drama, postmodern deconstruction and kitchen-sink realism. Through her bold storytelling, The Sleepwalkers becomes a work of peculiar, gonzo genius ... Thomas takes a glamorous late-capitalist setting, with rosé and catamarans, and shreds, twists and warps it into a story that is surprising, humane and political to its bones.
Such dark, twisted, pervy fun that it might dent the psyche ... To be sure, The Sleepwalkers skirts the unsavory, but Thomas isn't going for subtlety. Hers is a Grand Guignol sensibility that any White Lotus fan will get — and applaud.
Fantastically gripping ... Thomas is a writer who provides practically every satisfaction a reader demands. The plot structure is ingenious and demanding without being onerous. She has an unerring ability to conjure atmosphere ... Clever, emotionally resonant, packed with startling twists and dark turns and very funny indeed, this is fiction roaring on all cylinders.
Ever since novels such as Bright Young Things (also island-set) and PopCo, Thomas has known how to fuse an acidly satirical streak of observation with storytelling artifice that keeps her readers pleasurably unsettled and alert. So it’s apt, but amusing, to find the publisher’s blurb comparing this pungent slice of ripe Mediterranean Gothic with HBO’s resort romp The White Lotus. The Sleepwalkers features a visiting movie producer who demands: ‘You gotta make it clearer what actually happened.’ But Thomas insistently and cleverly shows that a novel can do what a series screenplay can’t, or won’t ... she can make metafiction not just smart but fun. Once more she earns her place in a postwar British canon of playfully serious mavericks that runs from Muriel Spark and Brigid Brophy to Nicola Barker and Ali Smith. If a streaming giant in need of seaside shocks does pursue The Sleepwalkers, let’s hope they get – and keep – the genre-bending jokes.
Their letters to each other contain shocking revelations, which Thomas unspools masterfully, expertly building tension and jolting the reader in equal measure. Fans of literary fiction and thrillers will find much to appreciate here, with the slow burn of the story’s beginning paying off exponentially once all the cards are turned over. A straight-up winner.
Thomas ratchets up the creepiness by introducing shady characters and strange goings-on ... oss in more suspicious denizens, an icky backstory involving Richard's father, and a film producer who wants to option the sleepwalkers idea, and the pieces are in place for a satisfyingly unsettling adventure. If readers can overlook Evelyn's tendency to write 100-page letters complete with dialogue in quotation marks, they will likely enjoy this ghoulish tale and its revelations. The wedding and honeymoon may have been horrific, but here's a toast to the novel.
Fans of Gothic literature are likely to settle in comfortably right away. For other readers, Evelyn’s voice should be compelling enough to let them forget that they’re reading a letter... and immerse themselves in the story that Evelyn is telling ... Another difficult-to-classify novel from a seemingly fearless writer.
Readers seeking definitive answers may be left wanting, but Thomas cleverly utilizes structure and style to tell a multifaceted tale stocked with boldly drawn, irreparably damaged characters. It’s a smart and soapy delight.
