The Island: A Novel - Softcover

Hilderbrand, Elin

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0316201170 ISBN 13: 9780316201179

Publisher: Back Bay Books, 2012

Synopsis

A summertime story only Elin Hilderbrand can tell: a family in upheaval after a cancelled wedding fill an island summer with heartache, laughter, and surprises.
Birdie Cousins has thrown herself into the details of her daughter Chess's lavish wedding, from the floating dance floor in her Connecticut back yard to the color of the cocktail napkins. Like any mother of a bride-to-be, she is weathering the storms of excitement and chaos, tears and joy. But Birdie, a woman who prides herself on preparing for every possibility, could never have predicted the late-night phone call from Chess, abruptly announcing that she's cancelled her engagement.
It's only the first hint of what will be a summer of upheavals and revelations. Before the dust has even begun to settle, far worse news arrives, sending Chess into a tailspin of despair. Reluctantly taking a break from the first new romance she's embarked on since the recent end of her 30-year marriage, Birdie circles the wagons and enlists the help of her younger daughter Tate and her own sister India. Soon all four are headed for beautiful, rustic Tuckernuck Island, off the coast of Nantucket, where their family has summered for generations. No phones, no television, no grocery store - a place without distractions where they can escape their troubles.
But throw sisters, daughters, ex-lovers, and long-kept secrets onto a remote island, and what might sound like a peaceful getaway becomes much more. Before summer has ended, dramatic truths are uncovered, old loves are rekindled, and new loves make themselves known.

About this title

About the Author

Elin Hilderbrand lives on Nantucket with her husband and their three young children. She grew up in Collegeville, PA, and traveled extensively before settling on Nantucket, which has been the setting for her eight previous novels. Hilderbrand is a graduate of Johns Hopkins University and the graduate fiction workshop at the University of Iowa.

From AudioFile

Four women spend a month on Tuckernuck Island (just off Nantucket) with no electricity, hot water, or telephones. But there IS one hot man--Barrett Lee, a local handyman. Denice Hicks portrays the women in a bright, cheerful voice as they work through the bumps in their lives. Recently divorced, Birdie Cousins, the rock of the family, nurtures her older daughter, Chess, whose former fiancé died just days after she broke off their engagement. Chess's sister, Tate, a computer software engineer extraordinaire, has a serious crush on the handyman. Birdie's widowed sister, India, a free spirit, agrees to help heal Chess's broken heart and find balance in her own life. Hicks narrates the ups and downs in the women's lives as they seek quiet days, healing, bonding, and friendship--the perfect formula for a summer romance. M.B.K. © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine

About this edition

• Publisher: Back Bay Books
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 0316201170
• ISBN 13: 9780316201179
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• Number of pages: 512