The Writing Retreat

Content Warning: This section explores violent, abusive, sexual, and occult subject matter. For the sake of accuracy, it also replicates obscenities and explicit sexual language.

“True, I hadn’t seen Wren since that awful day—her birthday, nearly a year ago now. Sure, I’d stalked her social media, watching as her beauty editor job had earned her a blue check mark. I’d seen her style change, her dark bangs go blunt instead of choppy, her growing proclivity for designer jackets. I couldn’t comprehend seeing her in person; it’d be like confronting a ghost who’d come back to life.”

Alex, the first-person narrator, worries about running into her ex-best friend at a party. It is clear from her quasi-stalking behavior that Alex has not made her peace with the relationship: She still has feelings for Wren. Alex’s description of Wren as a “ghost” is also a form of foreshadowing, as ghost stories and ghostwriting play a central role in advancing the novel’s plot.

“Vallo’s two latest books, ‘Polar Star’ and ‘Maiden Pink,’ are formed around similar themes: changing bodies, the constant whisper of death, the thrill and brutality in sexuality, the intimate connections between women.”

This quotation comes from an article Alex reads about Roza Vallo, the famous author whose retreat she will be attending. The themes that capture Roza’s attention double as the themes of this novel, too. As such, they can be interpreted as a metafictional gesture.

“‘I just find writer relationships fascinating.’ Roza leaned forward. ‘I was with a writer, once. We were always butting heads, each of us convinced that we were the real genius. Did you ever feel that way?’”

This exchange takes place during Roza’s ad hoc interview with author Jett Butler, wherein she exposes his theft of someone else’s story. The identity of the wronged writer is unclear. Plausible candidates include Taylor (the actual author of Roza’s book, Maiden Pink, and Roza’s current girlfriend) and Mila (who happens to be the actual author of Rosa’s novel, Devil’s Tongue, as well as her former girlfriend). Roza’s accusation that Jett appropriated the work of his former girlfriend are a form of dramatic