I have to admit, that previous to this post, my Nantucket knowledge was zip, zero, nada. It's just never been on my radar. The whole Cape Cod, Nantucket, and Martha's Vineyard area I've managed to write off as "too rich for my blood". I have learned that, along with Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket is an island off the southern coast of Cape Cod in Massachusetts. Only 14 miles in length this little island is home to 82 miles of shoreline, beaches, restaurants, shops, and 35 miles of bike paths. Also, it seems that Sharks enjoy vacationing there as well as people, (https://www.wcvb.com/article/dozens-of-shark-sightings-reported-in-nantucket/40798970) That said, I've noticed that there is no shortage of books that are set in Nantucket, much of that seems due to the efforts of Elin Hilderbrand and Nancy Thayer.
“Nantucket is far away—30 miles offshore—so it’s hard and expensive to get to,” she says. “It’s also small, so all of these things lend it to being kind of exclusive. When you have a place like that, you have people who are drawn to that aspect, but you also have those who have to work and who live there year-round. There’s this upstairs-downstairs element between the year-round versus summer people, which creates drama.” -Elin Hilderbrand A Book Lover's Guide to Nantucket from the Queen of the Beach Read: Elin Hilderbrand BY LAUREN WICKS JUL 3, 2020"The queen of beach reads" (New York Magazine) delivers another immensely satisfying page-turner in this tale about a summer of scandal at a storied Nantucket hotel.
After a tragic fire in 1922 that killed 19-year-old chambermaid, Grace Hadley, The Hotel Nantucket descended from a gilded age gem to a mediocre budget-friendly lodge to inevitably an abandoned eyesore -- until it's purchased and renovated top to bottom by London billionaire, Xavier Darling. Xavier hires Nantucket sweetheart Lizbet Keaton as his general manager, and Lizbet, in turn, pulls together a charismatic, if inexperienced, staff who share the vision of turning the fate of the hotel around. They face challenges in getting along with one another (and with the guests), in overcoming the hotel's bad reputation, and in surviving the (mostly) harmless shenanigans of Grace Hadley herself - who won't stop haunting the hotel until her murder is acknowledged.
Filled with the emotional tension and multiple points of view that characterize Elin's books (The Blue Bistro, Golden Girl) as well as an added touch of historical reality, Hotel Nantucket offers something for everyone in this summer drama for the ages.
Reluctantly agreeing to organize a children's benefit at which a rock-star ex-lover is performing, Claire Danner Crispin finds her efforts complicated by her clashes with a fellow organizer, her best friend's catering mishaps, and a new relationship.
Nancy Thayer has been a Nantucket resident since 1984 and her books are a reflection of her life there.
"When you live here you hear the most awful things," said Ms. Thayer. "It's all good material." -Living History in Nantucket By Nancy Keates
"Old secrets come to light when four friends gather on Nantucket for a life-changing reunion in this heartwarming novel of love and self-discovery by New York Times bestselling author Nancy Thayer. When four strangers rent bargain-basement rooms in an old hotel near the beach, they embark on the summer of their lives. First there's Ariel Spencer, who has big dreams of becoming a writer and is looking for inspiration in Nantucket's high society. Her new friend Sheila Murphy is a good Catholic girl from Ohio whose desire for adventure is often shadowed by her apprehension. Then there's small-town Missourian Wyatt Smith-who's immediately taken with Ariel. The last of the four, Nick Volkov, is looking to make a name for himself and have a blast along the way. Despite their differences, the four bond over Wednesday night dinners, trips to the beach, and all that Nantucket has to offer. But venturing out on their own for the first time, with all its adventure and risks, could change the course of their future.... Twenty-six years after that amazing summer, Ariel, Sheila, Wyatt, and Nick come together again at the hotel where they first met. Now it's called The Lighthouse and Nick owns the entire operation with his wife and daughter. Ariel and Wyatt, married for decades, arrive with their son, and Sheila's back too, with her daughter by her side. Life hasn't exactly worked out the way they had all hoped. Ariel's dreams have since faded and been pushed aside, but she's determined to rediscover the passion she once had. Nick has the money and reputation of a successful businessman, but is it everything he had hoped for? And Sheila has never been able to shake the secret she's kept since that summer. Being back together again at last will mean confronting the past and finding themselves again. Meanwhile, the next generation discovers Nantucket, exploring the island together, experiencing love and heartbreak, and forging lifelong bonds just as their parents did all those years ago. It's sure to be one unforgettable reunion. This delightful novel from beloved storyteller Nancy Thayer explores the potential of dreams and the beauty of friendship"--. Provided by publisher.
"A grandmother-granddaughter duo are eager to spend their summer together on peaceful Nantucket, but the season that unfolds brings about unforgettable surprises in New York Times bestselling author Nancy Thayer's magical, multigenerational novel. Eleanor Sunderland loves living on the Nantucket cliffside, in a charming home that has been in her family for decades. Now widowed, she looks forward to the arrival of her children and grandchildren for an annual family reunion, eager for the life and laughter that will soon fill the air. But Eleanor's island idyll is shattered when her money-driven children suggest she sell the house and move to a retirement community. She finds a lone ally in her twenty-two-year-old granddaughter, Ari, who moves in with her for the summer. Ari longs for a change of scenery, to stray from the path her parents have set for her. What she does not expect is an electric romantic spark with a Nantucket local, Cal, whose kind heart and charisma have her absolutely smitten. With plenty of her signature Nantucket magic, Nancy Thayer brings both Eleanor and Ari on a summer beyond their wildest imaginations, filled with exciting connections, old and new"--. Provided by publisher.
Emily Ackerman has traveled the world, her constant compass and companion a book of letters her mother left for her when she died. With no father in the picture, her mom’s advice has been her only true north. But when professional failure leads Emily back to Nantucket to renovate and sell the family cottage she inherited, she wonders if her mom left advice to cover this . . . especially when her grandmother arrives to “supervise.” And especially when her heart becomes entangled with Hollis McGuire, the boy next door–turned–baseball star who’s back on the island after a career-ending injury. As sparks fly between her and Hollis, Emily is drawn to island life, even as she uncovers shocking secrets about the tragic accident that led to her mother’s death. With her world turned upside down, Emily must choose between allowing the voices from her past to guide her future or forging her own path forward.
Abby Schoenberg isn't looking forward to the summer before her senior year. She's just broken up with her first boyfriend and her friends are all off in different, exciting directions for the next three months. When she finds love letters among her recently deceased grandmother's possessions-- letters from a mystery man named Edward-- Abby heads to Nantucket for the summer to learn more about her grandmother and the secrets she kept. Edward's grandson wants to stop her from investigating. As Abby and Noah grow closer, the mysteries they discover that they both have to accept the burdens of their pasts if they want the kinds of futures they've always imagined. -- adapted from jacket
Known in Nantucket as the crazy woman who lives in the rambling house atop the bluff, Nan doesn't care what people think. At sixty-five-years old, her husband died twenty years ago, her beauty has faded, and her family has flown. If her neighbors are away, why shouldn't she skinny dip in their swimming pools and help herself to their flowers? But when she discovers the money she thought would last forever is dwindling and she could lose her beloved house, Nan knows she has to make drastic changes. So Nan takes out an ad: Rooms to rent for the summer in a beautiful old Nantucket home with water views and direct access to the beach. Slowly, people start moving into the house, filling it with noise, with laughter, and with tears. As the house comes alive again, Nan finds her family expanding. Her son comes home for the summer, and then an unexpected visitor turns all their lives upside-down.
Five long years ago, Laura Dalton stood on the bleak Nantucket shore waiting for her beloved husband Rye to return--until the day she learned his ship was lost at sea. Now, Laura's lonely heart has found solace in Dan, Rye's closest friend.
Dan has been a beacon of light in her time of darkness, becoming a father to the child that Rye never knew and giving her a reason to live again. But who could foretell that a wind-roughened sailor with sun-bleached hair would come back into their lives? That Laura's heart could betray her soul? That Rye would come home again...
"As a violent nor'easter bears down on New England over the final weekend in September, a luxury yacht grounds on the shoals surrounding a deserted barrier island off the western end of Nantucket. When the Coast Guard responds, they find two people shot in the boat's cabin, one of whom dies before reaching the hospital. Nantucket Police Detective Meredith Folger is called in to investigate--three days before her long-anticipated wedding--as the storm morphs into a Category 5 hurricane. Caretaker Dionis Mather has spent the past week evacuating Tuckernuck's last summer residents to safety from the isolated island. But as the hurricane nears, Dionis fights her way back across Madaket Harbor one last time. When she stumbles on a bloody trail leading to an empty summer house, Dionis makes a fateful decision that may cost her life. As the hurricane batters her beloved island and house full of wedding guests, Merry Folger struggles to unravel a tangle of false identities, missing guns, and a cargo of heroin that's left one man in a coma, fighting to survive. But is he a victim, or a killer? And what does Merry's police chief, a man with his own secrets to keep, have to do with the wounded figure holding Dionis Mather hostage on Tuckernuck?"-- Provided by publisher.
Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard & Nantucket by Bartlett, Ray
