The Winters

For over eighty years, Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca has been attracting readers with its haunting story of a young woman’s fairy tale romance—and how it’s upended by the ghosts of her husband’s past. The book has never been out of print, and has inspired countless remakes and retellings, including an upcoming Netflix movie starring Lily James and Armie Hammer. With Lisa Gabriele’s THE WINTERS (now available in paperback from Penguin Books), fans of the classic can indulge in a sharp and suspenseful tale that’s both inspired by Rebecca and a compelling page-turner all on its own.

This stylish and atmospheric novel follows a young woman swept off her feet by a wealthy politician named Max Winter. But once he whisks her off to his lavish estate in the Hamptons, our narrator begins to realize all is not as perfect as it seems. She is haunted by the memory of Max’s first wife, Rebekah, whose legacy lingers everywhere—and what’s worse, his spiteful teenage daughter is intent on making sure her new stepmom knows her place. As their dangerous cat-and-mouse game progresses, it becomes clear that no amount of glitz and glamour can keep every secret buried.

Bustle calls THE WINTERS, “Dark and richly atmospheric… A bewitching novel about love, lies, and the ghosts that never quite leave us alone,” and PopSugar says it’s “[a] suspenseful, dark tale of love, deception, and grief… from the minute you crack open THE WINTERS until you reach its riveting conclusion, you’ll be spellbound.” You can also catch author Lisa Gabriele on NPR’s Weekend Edition here.

*THE WINTERS: A Novel

*By Lisa Gabriele

*Penguin

*ISBN: 9780525559726

*Price: $17.00

*Also available as an e-book and audiobook

On an island in the Caribbean, an unnamed young woman lives a quiet simple life, working for a sailing company and trying to pay her debts. Her world is, in her own words, “unremarkable”—until a dashing older man, a recent widower and wealthy senator named Max Winter, arrives in town and sweeps her off her feet. After a whirlwind romance, she finds herself newly engaged and ensconced in a life of luxury she never could have imagined. But all is not as it seems at Asherley, Max’s opulent Long Island estate, and no amount of glitz and glamour can keep every secret buried, or every ghost quiet.

THE WINTERS is now available in paperback – and is a page-turner about the seductive trappings of wealth, the dangers of infatuation, and the impossibility of escaping the past.

THE WINTERS takes its cues from both classic manor house novels and contemporary domestic thrillers but will keep readers guessing as it builds toward an explosive and unpredictable conclusion. A decidedly modern (and unexpectedly feminist) take on a beloved genre, it is a gripping tale about money, power, and status—and the web of lies it takes to keep them.

When she first arrives at Asherley, our humble narrator—an outsider who has never known such fortune—is both impressed and bewildered by her new surroundings. But it soon becomes clear that this is no place for a fresh start, and she is right to be on edge. The house is steeped in the memory of Max’s first wife, Rebekah, whose beauty, breeding, and aura of mystery feed the young woman’s uncertainties and insecurities. Rebekah’s photos adorn the walls, the rooms smell of her favorite flowers, and worst of all, her spiteful teenage daughter Dani is intent on keeping her mother’s memory alive—and torturing her soon-to-be stepmom with it.

As Max and Dani circle each other like cats, pressing buttons and pushing boundaries, their twisted family dynamic, and the hole left by Rebekah’s death, become ever more apparent. Dani refuses to be cowed, and Max’s political ambitions will not be stopped by any woman, dead or alive. Haunted by Rebekah, tormented by Dani, and growing suspicious of her fiancé, the young woman finds herself in a strange and sinister world where she cannot fit in, and may not be able to get out.

THE WINTERS is a sharp and suspenseful read that belongs on every thriller-lover’s bookshelf. Gabriele’s vivid prose brings the affluent Hamptons alive, and skillfully reveals the darkness lurking just beneath the surface and the skeletons in every walk-in closet.

Author Lisa Gabriele, Photo Credit: Vanessa Heins

About the author:

Lisa Gabriele is the author of Tempting Faith DiNapoli and The Almost Archer Sisters, and The Winters, and is an award-winning TV producer, writer and director. Her writing has appeared in Vice, Nerve, New York Magazine, Washington Post, New York Times Magazine, Globe and Mail, National Post, Elle and Glamour. Her essays have appeared in several anthologies, including The Best American Non-Required Reading. She’s also the author of the international best-selling S.E.C.R.E.T. trilogy, under the pseudonym L. Marie Adeline, a series that’s been published in more than 30 countries.

She lives in Toronto, where she is an award-winning television producer.

For more on Lisa and her writing, contact with her at the following sites:

www.lisagabriele.com/ |      @lisagabrieletv  |      @lisagabrieletv    

www.penguinrandomhouse.com

Thanks for stopping by today. Are you a fan of Rebecca, the book and/or the movie? Doesn’t THE WINTERS sound like it will drawn you into the drama quickly and hold you captive until the end?