I support women's rights, but more importantly I support women's wrongs.
Marnie Sellick is adrift when she lands a job at the coveted, mysterious beauty brand rytual cosmetica.
The enigmatic founder and CEO, Luna Peters, takes a liking to Marnie, and as the two grow closer Marnie becomes intoxicated by the life that Luna, and rytual, can offer her.
But all is not what it seems at rytual. Luna has a cult-like hold over the all-female staff, and that's not to mention what happens at their weekly Friday Night Drinks.
As Marnie edges closer to the darkness at the centre of rytual's millennial-pink facade, cracks begin to show. Luna is hiding something, but will Marnie uncover the truth - and the role Luna has cast her in - before it's too late?
Both a darkly funny deconstruction of the beauty industry and a gripping examination of identity, beauty and desire, Rytual asks the question- what if your favourite cult beauty brand . . . was actually a cult?
About the Author
Chloe Elisabeth Wilson is a writer, former horse girl and avid Nicole Kidman fan based between Los Angeles and Naarm/Melbourne. She holds a Master of Screenwriting from the Victorian College of the Arts, which she completed in 2019. Her work has been published by Refinery29, the Guardian and ABC Everyday. Rytual is her first novel.
Industry Reviews
High-concept and psychologically rich, with the dark, compulsive pull of a Black Mirror episode . . . ideal for book clubs and readers drawn to provocative fiction.
Jess Lomas, Books + Publishing
Outrageously funny, superbly plotted and deeply psychotic. I gorged myself on it.
Virginia Gay
Gripping, funny and gluttonous. Chloe Elisabeth Wilson cleverly uses thriller tropes and cutting social commentary to skewer girlboss feminism. I read Rytual in a day.
Madeleine Gray, author of Green Dot
Hilarious and deft, Rytual satirises both the mythical girlboss and the glossy world of beauty brands, while taking the reader on a breakneck journey filled with gasp-worthy twists and turns. Chloe Elisabeth Wilson is one hell of an exciting new talent.
Amy Taylor, author of Search History
Rytual is the hottest item in the Shameless Media office right now . . . It’s so fcking good. If you love the beauty industry and psychological thrillers, this is the book for you.
Michelle Andrews, Shameless
Rytual is wild in the most perfect way. It’s the page-turner of the year, a literary thriller with a taste of modern sci-fi and horror, and also breathtakingly sexy. Every sentence is constructed like a work of art. I will be telling every woman I know about Rytual – oh, and also, looking twice at all my beauty products from now on.
Eilish Gilligan, Shameless Book Club
