Nantucket Sextant (Paperback or Softback)

A sextant is an astronomical instrument used for measuring angular distances of celestial bodies to determine latitude and longitude. Nantucket sits at latitude 41° 17' 0. 46" N; longitude 70° 5' 58.06" W.

On Nantucket thousands of bodies are spinning in the same latitude/longitude as they prepare for the Christmas Stroll now in its fifth decade!

Molly, a retired nurse, gives herself the gift of the Christmas Stroll after living alone since her husband, John, died of colon cancer.

Weezie gives herself the gift of the Christmas Stroll after her best childhood friend, Maggie, dies unexpectedly.

Andrea, a Quaker living on Nantucket, works at her shop Yarn Pastures. Andrea inherited the shop after the recent death of her Mother.

Can grief be washed away by the tides of this beautiful island? What blessings or heartaches does the island of Nantucket hold for Andrea, Weezie, and Molly?

Nantucket whalers used their sextants to navigate their way home under the stars. Andrea, Weezie and Molly find themselves without a sextant to guide them. Under the celestial skies of December they must see into their own hearts from every angle until the Christmas Stroll ends and maybe hope and Nantucket remain.

Mary Keating first visited Nantucket when she was fifteen. She has written five books, including her childhood memoir, It's A Girl; the fictional story The Chanticleer Girls set on Nantucket; the summer story Chautauqua After Hours; and a memoir for her father, Into My Father's Room. Mary Keating is originally from northwestern Pennsylvania while enjoying dual Irish citizenship.