The Society - by Karen Winn (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Rumors about the Knox and its influence have swirled through Boston for centuries. While some believe the secret society is merely an elite social club, others are convinced it hides something more sinister...

Vivian Lawrence was born into old-money Boston, but when her family fortune vanishes so does her carefully curated life. Desperate, she turns to an old family legend that ties her to the Knox and its inheritance, seeking a way into the exclusive secret society. She doesn't expect that entry to come in the form of Peter, a Knox insider with movie star good looks and just enough roughness to his charm to make Vivian weak in the knees for the first time in her life.

Far from Boston's glittering elite is newcomer Taylor Adams, a young nurse eager to leave her humble past behind. When the effortlessly glamorous Vivian lands in her ER after a suspicious fall, Taylor is instantly captivated. But then Vivian abruptly disappears without a trace, sending Taylor on a search for answers that pulls her into the Knox itself--as their new employee.

The further Taylor ventures into the Knox's world of unimaginable wealth and dark history, the more the mystery surrounding Vivian deepens. As Taylor will soon discover, more so than money or status, secrets are this society's true currency.

Review Quotes

"Karen Winn draws you in with a twisty tale that'll keep you guessing until the end." --New York Post

"In Winn's sumptuous and twisty second novel (after Our Little World), two women are drawn into a mysterious secret society in contemporary Boston... the Knox is fascinatingly baroque, soaked in history and possibly deadly mysticism. For suspense fans, this is a delight."
--Publishers Weekly

"Readers who enjoy novels full of suspense and family secrets will fly through it."
--Booklist

"In addition to displaying inventiveness at imagining such a disturbing complexity of unknowns, Winn's telling is also impressive when presenting the violent dangers of a concluding event--locked doors, fears of being trapped, opium hallucination, smoky confusions about what is actually happening. Finally, a calm emerges and explanations are revealed. But it all has been an adventure."
--California Review of Books

"Completely cinematic and terrifyingly plausible-- you may never view Boston the same way again, because you'll imagine secret societies and dangerous secrets behind every door. The Society is total immersion storytelling, written with the confidence only an insider can provide--more than a novel, this is an experience. Relatable, sinister, and incredibly clever. Calling Hollywood-- this is your next big movie!" --Hank Phillippi Ryan, USA Today bestselling author of All This Could Be Yours

"[Winn's] descriptions of Boston and its institutions are rich in detail and atmosphere, skillfully showing how living in Boston means living with the past all around you." --WBUR

"The Society plunges into the heart of old-money Boston, where power, privilege, and dark secrets collide within the exclusive, enigmatic Knox club. Through the lives of two women, one seeking answers, the other trapped by fate, Karen Winn crafts an atmospheric, twisty tale of longing, belonging, and the dangerous cost of uncovering the truth. This was gripping and sharp!" --Terah Shelton Harris, author of One Summer in Savannah and Long After We Are Gone

"With socialites, scandal, and an ultra-exclusive club--THE SOCIETY explores the sinister side of privilege, class, and tradition. Karen Winn's evocative prose and sharp pacing sucked me into the rarified air of old money Boston, where power warps and secrets rule. A twisty escape!" --K.T. Nguyen, Anthony and Agatha Award-Winning Author of You Know What You Did

"In The Society, Karen Winn weaves an addictive story about longing and belonging centered on a mysterious social club built on old Boston money and real-life dark secrets you didn't learn about in history class. The Society will get its hooks in you, but watch your back. All is not as it appears in this twisty and beautifully written book." --Julie Carrick Dalton, author of The Last Beekeeper

"Atmospheric and propulsive, The Society centers around the Knox, the elusive secret society for Boston's elite. When two women enter its orbit for vastly different reasons, the reader is taken on a wild ride through its dark history and mysterious ways. I could not get enough of this gripping tale." --Jessica Saunders, author of Love, Me

"In this propulsive, unique, page-turner of a novel, Karen Winn wrestles with the nature of secrets. Through the lives of two women from vastly different worlds whose lives mysteriously intersect, Winn illustrates beautifully how all secrets contain their own histories and rules, consequences and risks." --Maribeth Fischer, author of A Season of Perfect Happiness

"When Vivian Lawrence's family fortune disappears, she gambles on a potential family connection to the Knox: a secret society about which dark rumors have long circulated across Boston." --Bookbub

About the Author

Karen Winn is the author of two novels, The Society and Our Little World. She earned her MFA from Fairleigh Dickinson University. For her undergraduate studies she attended the University of Pennsylvania, where she may or may not have belonged to a secret society. Before becoming an author, Karen had a career as a nurse. She lives in the charming Beacon Hill neighborhood of Boston with her husband, two children, and their 100-pound Bernedoodle.