One of the Girls

One of the Girls is a psychological thriller written by Lucy Clarke and originally published in 2022. It was a Sunday Times bestseller and a Richard & Judy Book Club Pick in 2022 in the UK. Clarke visited several Greek islands that inspired the fictional setting of the Greek island of Aegos. Travelling is her main passion, and literature her main field of study. One of the Girls focuses on six women, each with secrets, grudges, and insecurities, who get together for Lexi’s bachelorette weekend in Greece. The women learn that The Power and Precarity of Female Friendship can outweigh even decades-long conflicts and that together they can resist and overcome The Pressure of Patriarchal Gender Norms. What propels the story forward is the power of Secrets as Bond and Solvent, as secrets both bind the women together and threaten to break their relationships apart. As the truth is slowly revealed, the consequences become less and less clear.

This guide is based on the 2022 HarperCollins paperback edition of the novel.

Content Warning: The source material and guide feature depictions of bullying, anti-gay bias, sexual violence, rape, mental illness, disordered eating, suicidal ideation, sexual content, death, physical abuse, and emotional abuse.

Plot Summary

Thirty-one-year-old Lexi is engaged to Ed, the first man she’s ever really loved. Shortly before the wedding, she travels with five friends to an isolated villa in Greece for her hen (bachelorette) weekend. Lexi lived a previously unpredictable and wild life, and now that she’s settling down, she has doubts. The setting is picturesque, but tensions are high and everyone has their own internal struggles. Lexi’s best friend, Bella, organized the weekend, and her excessive enthusiasm comes across as inauthentic. Bella’s girlfriend Fen is distant and aloof after discovering that Bella has been lying about the reason she lost her job as a nurse. Robyn is going through a divorce and missing her young son, and she isn’t quite as close to her childhood friends as she once was. Ana, a sign language interpreter Lexi met while teaching a yoga class, regrets coming and hides that she won’t be attending the wedding. Eleanor is Ed’s anxious sister who is grieving her fiancé’s death and isn’t sure if she fits in.

Interludes in past tense hint at the horrors to come, and every woman harbors secrets. Bella is desperate to preserve her friendship with Lexi as she moves ahead with her life, and Ana can sense that Bella feels threatened by her. When Lexi opens the gifts her friends made for her, everyone is amazed by the bronze sculpture Eleanor made of Lexi as a dancer. Eleanor hates the fact that she drew attention to herself. Late at night, Lexi can’t sleep and sees someone floating face down in the pool. She panics and pulls out Eleanor, fearing she was attempting suicide again. Eleanor brushes it off and heads inside without much of an explanation.

The next morning, Ana wakes up and thinks about the trouble her son has been facing lately. She knows she should be home with him and feels out of place among these women she hardly knows. While Ana and Lexi bonded and even went wedding dress shopping together, Ana doesn’t feel she should be here. Hiking together as the sun rises, Fen and Robyn confide in one another about their pasts. Fen admits she used to struggle with her health, and she invites Robyn to come to her fitness studio one day. Robyn enjoys spending time with Fen and can’t help but notice her beauty.

At the villa, Lexi and Bella revive their carefree friendship in the pool, but when Bella learns that Robyn and Fen went hiking without her, she becomes jealous. Robyn and Fen are having too much fun to return yet, and they decide to hike down to the cove for a swim. Robyn follows Fen as she strips down and dives into the water. Robyn continues admiring Fen’s self-assuredness and finally feels a sense of peace as she floats along. As the two climb back up the cliff, they hear Bella scream. Bella was stung by a scorpion, and the other women tend to her as Robyn and Fen return. Fen helps Bella to her room, where Bella gets angry at Fen for leaving and calls Robyn “boring.” Fen leaves Bella, feeling disappointed in her actions. At the same time, Robyn and Lexi overhear the comment, and Robyn admits she agrees with Bella. She hopes to have new experiences but also mend their friendship.

Ana and Eleanor bond while exploring town, and Ana encourages Eleanor to buy herself a bag. Ana hints that she knows more about Eleanor than she admits, but she doesn’t give much away. That night, Bella tries to liven the mood with a drinking game that humiliates Lexi and puts her on the spot as Bella pressures her repeatedly to drink. Tensions rise when Bella figures out that Lexi is pregnant. Shocked, Bella later admits that she doesn’t trust Ed, revealing that a friend of hers performs at a strip club where Ed is a client and that this woman strongly dislikes Ed. Lexi reflects on her past and future and wonders if she’s ready for motherhood, while also feeling a pang of some other unknown hesitation. Bella apologizes and tries to understand how Lexi feels, and Lexi forgives her. That night, Eleanor and Ana share a late-night drink together, and Eleanor admits that Ed doesn’t treat her well when she’s grieving. Ana finds this striking and disturbing, and helps Eleanor feel empowered to stand up to Ed.

Bella surprises the group with a yacht and snorkeling trip, hoping to reconnect, but senses Fen distancing herself from Bella. Fen is unhappy in their relationship and realizes she doesn’t love Bella, in part because Bella was not honest about the reason she lost her nursing job. Eleanor stays on the yacht, reflecting on her grief and conversations with Sam’s ashes. Ana and Eleanor bond, and Ana recalls how her friendship with Lexi began when they met at Lexi’s yoga studio (which Ana intentionally attended). Robyn finds unexpected joy in the snorkel trip and climbs to a wading pool, where she starts to feel like her independent, free self again. Fen joins her, and they discuss their regrets. Robyn admits that she’s unhappy with her life. Bella and Lexi talk about Ed. Bella vaguely admits distrust, while Lexi worries about committing and can’t ignore a terrible warning in her gut.

That evening, the women head to dinner, and Fen suggests avoiding town. Secretly, she wants to avoid a local man named Nico, who works in the town’s best taverna and who once assaulted her and called her disgusting. At dinner, Lexi feels trapped by her future with Ed, reflecting on her father’s affairs and secret daughter. Lexi slips away to call Ed, who becomes perturbed when he sees Ana amongst the crowd, prompting Ed to call Eleanor in a panic. He reveals that Ana is Juliana, who became unexpectedly pregnant with his child during university. Juliana had the child, though the two did not see each other again, and Ed is sure Ana is on the hen weekend for nefarious reasons. Meanwhile, Robyn overhears Fen confronting Nico with a knife, revealing his past assault against her. Robyn comforts her, and together they leave, tipping over Nico’s motorcycle on their way. They discuss the importance of facing fears and find strength in one another. At the bar later, Bella feels offended that Ana saw Lexi’s wedding dress first, leading to conflict. Later that night, Eleanor reveals that she knows who Ana is and questions her, and Ana confirms that Ed is her son’s father. Their tense conversation is overheard by Bella, who attempts to keep the news secret.

As the final day of the trip begins, tensions build. Bella, disturbed and full of frustration, chooses to avoid confronting Fen and instead joins her for a swim. Fen, emotionally detached, silently accepts that their relationship is ending. At breakfast, Bella asks about Luca’s father, and Lexi casually says he’s not involved, deepening the tension. Later, Lexi invites Eleanor for a private rowboat ride to bond. Eleanor is suspicious but goes along. On the water, they awkwardly talk about Ed and Lexi’s future, and Eleanor wonders if Lexi truly knows the man she’s marrying. Meanwhile, Robyn takes a solo hike and receives a call from her mother, who criticizes her divorce and dismisses her desire for more in life. When Robyn’s mother reminds her of the night Robyn and Bella slept together, Robyn explodes at her. Lexi then comforts Robyn, encouraging self-assertion. Bella arrives after having just broken up with Fen. She puts her focus into making the last night special.

At the beach fire that night, truths are revealed and emotions are exposed. Fen lights the fire, thinking about Bella’s pain and her own confusion. When Eleanor joins her, the two share a rare moment of bonding. Eleanor confesses that since Sam died, she’s been unable to find meaning in anything. She admits she never wanted marriage or children until Sam; his death took not just him, but her future too. Lexi leads the group down to the cove, and soon her crown of flowers begins to unravel. Drinks are poured and music plays, and Bella drinks heavily, eventually stripping and heading into the sea. Robyn watches from the shore, trying to convince herself not to worry about Bella. She thinks back to the night they slept together. The following morning, Robyn was confused and ashamed and acted like nothing had happened, which deeply hurt Bella. This was shortly after Robyn’s brother died. In the water, Bella is overwhelmed with panic and regret. She swims farther than she should, and with alcohol in her system and no strength left, she struggles to get back to shore. Robyn sees her disappear and fears the worst, but Bella makes it back to shore and demands they talk about their past. Robyn apologizes but walks away, leaving Bella hurt once again.

Eleanor takes the rowboat out to sea by herself and watches the stars, thinking of Sam and the life they could have had. She thinks about how Bella was responsible for his death after administering the wrong medication at the hospital. Above the cliff, Bella goes off in search of Fen and Robyn and finds them kissing. Upset, she falls off the cliff into the water below. Eleanor hears Bella’s cries for help and hesitates to save her until she hears Sam’s voice encouraging her. She rows to Bella and pulls her into the boat. Bella has no choice but to tell Eleanor everything about Sam’s death, admitting she gave Sam penicillin by mistake. She thought Eleanor would hate her, but instead, Eleanor thanks her for telling the truth. Meanwhile, the fire turns chaotic. Bella, drunk and bitter, exposes Ana’s secret that she has a child with Ed. Lexi is horrified, and when Ed arrives unexpectedly, the truth unfolds even more. While Ed denies everything, Ana reveals that Ed assaulted her the night Luca was conceived. Lexi is torn between the life she thought was hers and the reality before her. Eleanor also reveals that Ed bullied her growing up. At the same time, Bella reveals that Ed blindfolded Sam on the night of his stag, which led to an injury and Sam’s hospitalization. All of this enrages Ed, who picks up the sculpture and hurls it over the cliff. He slaps Ana for defending Eleanor and insults Sam. Eleanor charges at Ed, causing him to fall over the cliff onto the rocks and die. The women pull Eleanor back, saving her. Agreeing to tell the police it was an accident, they come up with a story about Ed falling on his own. Sixteen months later, the women are at Robyn and Fen’s wedding, and Lexi is with her child, Wren. While they each still have a lot of growth ahead of them, they have also each reached a place of acceptance and contentment that they did not have before.