A simmering, provocative novel about a couple whose affair with a young Greek woman over the course of a summer in Athens threatens to crack their relationship wide open

“The type of book you’ll want to gulp down in one breathless sitting . . . A summer in Athens? Check. Millennial malaise? Check. A steamy affair that upends everything? Check. . . . Taylor mixes literary musings with juicy plot twists and plenty of interpersonal drama.”—The Guardian

IN DEVELOPMENT AS A FEATURE FILM STARRING SEBASTIAN STAN AND VANESSA KIRBY

At a crossroads in their lives, a couple arrives in Greece to house-sit for a friend. Emma is searching for a meaningful next step beyond work or starting a family, and Julian is struggling to come to terms with the failure of his academic career. Their visions for the future seem to be pulling them in different directions, and they hope that this summer away will help them mend their frayed connection.

Emma and Julian’s plans take an unexpected turn when they meet Lena, an enigmatic young Greek woman, who presents an opportunity for them to explore their relationship in uncharted and excitingly risky ways. However, as the heat in the city grows stifling, Emma and Julian find themselves far more entangled in Lena’s life than they’d bargained for. Engaged in a three-way struggle for control, Emma, Julian, and Lena are suddenly faced with consequences far greater—and far more explosive—than they could have predicted.

Voyeuristic and thrilling, Ruins delivers the drama of a modern Greek tragedy while exposing the tensions between privilege and power, desire and intimacy.