We chat with author Raphael Montes about The Secret Dinner, which follows four childhood friends who are eager for a taste of city life and swap rural Brazil for an apartment in Copacabana, Rio. But they have no idea of the fate that awaits them there. . . .
Hi, Raphael! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
I’m a Brazilian author and screenwriter based in Rio de Janeiro. I write crime, thriller, and horror fiction, usually with lots of twists and turns. I started writing when I was about fifteen or sixteen, and over the past ten years, my books have found a wonderful readership in Brazil.
I’m also a showrunner and screenwriter for movies and TV series, such as Good Morning, Verônica on Netflix and Scars of Beauty on HBO Max.
Because of the kinds of stories I write, people often assume I’m dark and mysterious. In real life, I’d like to think I’m pretty funny, a little sarcastic. I tried to go for that same balance in The Secret Dinner: it’s tense and full of surprises, but it’s also unexpectedly funny.
I’m so excited to bring The Secret Dinner to the English language, to traumatize a new group of readers!
When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?
I grew up reading authors like Agatha Christie, Patricia Highsmith, Cornell Woolrich, Gillian Flynn, and Dennis Lehane. Their work made me want to become a crime writer.
When I was fifteen, I wrote a short story in the back of my notebook called The Teacher, about a teacher planning to murder her students. It became super popular at my school; that was when I first witnessed the power stories have to engage people and bring them together.
At sixteen I started writing my first thriller––much to my parents’ despair. I haven’t stopped since.
Your latest novel, The Secret Dinner, is out August 18th! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Ambition. Power. Friendship. Seagull meat. Twists.
What can readers expect?
Well first of all, I like to tell stories that grab you from the very first page. Readers usually have a hard time putting The Secret Dinner down!
I also like to provoke my readers by inviting them to think about challenging subjects. The Secret Dinner is narrated by Dante, an ambitious young man who shares an apartment in a big city with three friends. In the wake of a national financial crisis, they’re desperate to make quick cash and decide to host secret dinners for an elite clientele. But these clients are looking for a very unusual kind of experience.
It’s a book for readers of The Silence of the Lambs, The Menu, Tender Is the Flesh, and Get Out. You should expect complex and entertaining characters, some very bold turns, and a final twist that is sure to stay in your head for a long time.
Where did the inspiration for The Secret Dinner come from?
I’d describe it as a lot of different dots, connecting slowly over time
Firstly, I was having dinner with some college friends, and we spent the night complaining about how hard adulthood is for our generation. Secondly, I was considering becoming a vegetarian at the time and reading a lot about the relationship between food and power. We choose to eat animals because we feel superior to them, and I found myself drawing comparisons to the filthy rich, who often feel superior to the rest of the population.
Thirdly, I read about a real website called ‘Eatwith,’ which connects people looking to host dinners in their homes with strangers or tourists looking for a gourmet home dining experience. This gave me the idea of a group of friends starting to host dinners to earn some extra money on the side.
Lastly, one day a friend of mine named Piglet (who became the inspiration for the character) told me the famous “seagull meat riddle.” It ended up being the final spark I needed to tie the whole plot together.
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
I loved writing Cora! She was probably the easiest and most fun character to write because she’s totally chaotic, immoral, and self-serving. She just does whatever she wants.
I also really enjoyed exploring Dante’s character arc: his addiction, his internal struggle as he begins to understand the price he has to pay for his ambition.
As for specific moments… Writing the slaughterhouse chapter was definitely intense. The same goes for the final chapter, the final dinner. Those are still the two chapters readers will ask me about the most.
Did you face any challenges whilst writing? How did you overcome them?
The biggest challenge in any novel is finding the right narrator and the right voice. Since The Secret Dinner is primarily told in the first person by Dante, I had to push myself to understand him and his background very deeply.
Another challenge was balancing the thriller /horror genre with social satire. I wanted to be able to discuss heavy subjects like class inequality, greed, and prejudice without becoming didactic or coming across like I was blaming the reader.
The way I dealt with that was by sticking to my roadmap while allowing my characters enough freedom on the page to make their own decisions, even if they were terrible.
What’s next for you?
I’m continuing to write, for both the page and the screen! I have a few ongoing projects in Brazil: the second season of Scars of Beauty for HBO Max, and a Netflix adaptation of my next novel, The Stranger in My Bed.
Of course, I’m always working on my next book. I’m also working on bringing more of my stories to English-language readers. Stay tuned!
Lastly, what books are you looking forward to picking up? Any you’ve read so far this year that you’ve enjoyed?
I’m very curious to read Lisa Jewell’s new thriller. She’s one of my favorite contemporary authors, and from what I’ve heard, It Could Have Been Her is her darkest book yet!
I also recently bought Helpless by Jessica Knoll, an erotic thriller, since that’s a genre I’m very interested in right now.
Of the books I’ve read this year, I really enjoyed Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera and The Adversary by Emmanuel Carrère, which is based on a true story.
