Nantucket Novels

As we settle into the cold, wet fall weather, I thought I would recommend some cozy beach reads to warm you up. “Beach Reads” are typically light, fluffy, or compulsively readable novels that are perfect to take on vacation. A few years ago, I discovered an even narrower genre of beach read – the Nantucket novel. These are often light romance novels, set on the island of Nantucket. Author Elin Hilderbrand is the Queen of the Nantucket novel, but a few other authors have dipped their toes in the waters. If you want to be swept away for some light romance and adventure on the Island of Nantucket, these are the books for you.  Below are a few of my favourites.

Summer of '69 by Elin Hilderbrand

Welcome to the most tumultuous summer of the twentieth century! It's 1969, and for the Levin family, the times they are a-changing. Every year the children have looked forward to spending the summer at their grandmother's historic home in downtown Nantucket: but this year Blair, the oldest sister, is marooned in Boston, pregnant with twins and unable to travel. Middle sister Kirby, a nursing student, is caught up in the thrilling vortex of civil rights protests, a passion which takes her to Martha's Vineyard with her best friend, Mary Jo Kopechne.

28 Summers by Elin Hilderbrand

When Mallory Blessing's son, Link, receives deathbed instructions from his mother to call a number on a slip of paper in her desk drawer, he's not sure what to expect. But he certainly does not expect Jake McCloud to answer. It's the late spring of 2020 and Jake's wife, Ursula DeGournsey, is the frontrunner in the upcoming Presidential election.

There must be a mistake, Link thinks. How do Mallory and Jake know each other? Flash back to the sweet summer of 1993: Mallory has just inherited a beachfront cottage on Nantucket from her aunt, and she agrees to host her brother's bachelor party. Cooper's friend from college, Jake McCloud, attends, and Jake and Mallory form a bond that will persevere -- through marriage, children, and Ursula's stratospheric political rise -- until Mallory learns she's dying.

The Identicals by Elin Hilderbrand

 Nantucket is only two and a half hours away from Martha's Vineyard by ferry. But the two islands might as well be worlds apart for a set of identical twin sisters who have been at odds for years. When a family crisis forces them to band together, or at least appear to, the twins slowly come to realize that the special bond that they share is more important than the sibling rivalry that's driven them apart for the better part of their lives.

Secrets in Summer by Nancy Thayer

 Darcy Cotterill is 30, divorced and works at the Nantucket library during the day. She spends most nights in her backyard, gazing at the stars. She's on the brink of starting a relationship with a local carpenter, Nash, when she gets new neighbours for the summer, the most unexpected of whom are her ex-husband, his new wife, and stepdaughter. As Darcy is drawn into the lives of her neighbors, she develops a crush on another vacationer, Clive, a musicologist visiting with his grandmother.

Over the course of the summer, Darcy is driven to decide what she truly wants--is she over her ex? Or will she choose Nash or Clive?

Summer House by Nancy Thayer

At thirty, Charlotte Wheelwright remains the dreamer she's always been. But when she begins an organic garden on a portion of her grandmother's land, Charlotte learns to plant her feet in solid ground and begins to build a new life.
Ninety-year-old Nona Wheelwright contentedly spends most of her time reminiscing about days gone by. But with her family's annual reunion and financial meeting looming, Nona must give up her days of quiet solitude to soothe her easily riled up family. 

For decades Charlotte's mother, Helen, who married into the illustrious Wheelwright family, has been pressured to adhere to all their ways of life. However, at the family's annual summer retreat, she discovers her husband's betrayal, and Helen wonders if she sacrificed her dreams for all the wrong reasons.

The Book of Summer by Michelle Gable

Physician Bess Codman has returned to her family's Nantucket compound, Cliff House, for the first time in four years. Her great-grandparents built Cliff House almost a century before, but due to erosion, the once-grand home will soon fall into the sea. Though she's purposefully avoided the island, Bess must now pack up the house and deal with her mother, a notorious town rabble-rouser, who refuses to leave. The Book of Summer unravels the power and secrets of Cliff House.

Bess's grandmother always said it was a house of women, and by the very last day of the very last summer at Cliff House, Bess will understand the truth of her grandmother's words in ways she never contemplated