The Rumor

by Elin Hilderbrand

Overview

A friendship is tested in this "thrilling" page-turner from New York Times bestselling author Elin Hilderbrand (Us Weekly).

Madeline King and Grace Pancik are best friends and the envy of Nantucket for their perfect marriages, their beautiful kids, their Saturday night double dates with their devoted husbands. But this summer, something's changed, and if there's anything Nantucket likes better than cocktails on the beach at sunset, it's a good rumor. 

And rumor has it... that Madeline, a novelist, is battling writer's block, with a deadline looming, bills piling up, and blank pages driving her to desperation — and a desperately bad decision; and that Grace, hard at work to transform her backyard into a garden paradise, has been collaborating a bit more closely than necessary with her ruggedly handsome landscape architect. 

As the gossip escalates, and they have the possible loss of the happy lives they've worked so hard to create, Grace and Madeline try mightily to set the record straight — but the truth might be even worse than rumor has it. 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316334525
Publisher:	Little, Brown and Company
Publication date:	06/16/2015
Pages:	384
Sales rank:	144,288
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.40(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

Elin Hilderbrand does her best writing on the beaches of Nantucket, as well as on the charming streets of Beacon Hill in Boston. She has three magical children who beg her not to sing along to the radio or dance in public. The Rumor is her fifteenth novel.

Editorial Reviews

01/01/2015
Nantucket-based author Madeline King has a forthcoming novel that shouts best seller but spills all about closest friend Grace's affair. As long-held resentments boil over, a dangerous stranger exploits the two women. With a 150,000-copy first printing.

Library Journal

2015-05-21
Hilderbrand's latest cautionary tale exposes the toxic—and hilarious—impact of gossip on even the most sophisticated of islands. Eddie and Grace Pancik are known for their beautiful Nantucket home and grounds, financed with the profits from Eddie's thriving real estate company (thriving before the crash of 2008, that is). Grace raises pedigreed hens and, with the help of hunky landscape architect Benton Coe, has achieved a lush paradise of fowl-friendly foliage. The Panciks' teenage girls, Allegra and Hope, suffer invidious comparisons of their looks and sex appeal, although they're identical twins. The Panciks' friends the Llewellyns (Madeline, a blocked novelist, and her airline-pilot husband, Trevor) invested $50,000, the lion's share of Madeline's last advance, in Eddie's latest development. But Madeline, hard-pressed to come up with catalog copy, much less a new novel, is living in increasingly straightened circumstances, at least by Nantucket standards: she can only afford $2,000 per month on the apartment she rents in desperate hope that "a room of her own" will prime the creative pump. Construction on Eddie's spec houses has stalled, thanks to the aforementioned crash. Grace, who has been nursing a crush on Benton for some time, gives in and a torrid affair ensues, which she ill-advisedly confides to Madeline after too many glasses of Screaming Eagle. With her agent and publisher dropping dire hints about clawing back her advance and Eddie "temporarily" unable to return the 50K, what's a writer to do but to appropriate Grace's adultery as fictional fodder? When Eddie is seen entering her apartment (to ask why she rented from a rival realtor), rumors spread about him and Madeline, and after the rival realtor sneaks a look at Madeline's rough draft (which New York is hotly anticipating as "the Playboy Channel meets HGTV"), the island threatens to implode with prurient snark. No one is spared, not even Hilderbrand herself, "that other Nantucket novelist," nor this magazine, "the notoriously cranky Kirkus." Once again, Hilderbrand displays her gift for making us care most about her least likable characters.

Kirkus Reviews

Praise for BEAUTIFUL DAY:

"A perfect summer read."—Ladies Home Journal

"A wedding readers won't be able to resist crashing."—Kirkus Reviews

"Hilderbrand's latest is the perfect beach read....[her] straightforward style pulls the reader into the minds of her characters, and all the secrets and sorrows that create the universal messiness of major family events."—Publishers Weekly

PRAISE FOR SUMMERLAND:

"Summerland is as readable as any beach book, but with a much bigger heart."—Boston Globe

"The Queen of the Summer Novel...Hilderbrand blends real-life issues - depression, teen alcoholism, bullying - with her signature soapy twists and illicit romances."—Joanna Powell, People

"Hilderbrand has once again written an engaging story wonderfully illustrating the often complex lives of young people struggling toward adulthood."—Booklist

"A sensitive glimpse into the lives of damaged people groping their way toward healing."—Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

The Queen of the Summer Novel...Hilderbrand blends real-life issues - depression, teen alcoholism, bullying - with her signature soapy twists and illicit romances.

People Joanna Powell

This multivoice recording brings bestselling author Hilderbrand’s fifteenth Nantucket novel to life…This is another juicy domestic drama from Hilderbrand.”

Booklist (audio review)

Summerland is as readable as any beach book, but with a much bigger heart.

Boston Globe

It wouldn’t be summer without a breezy, sensual Nantucket tale from Hilderbrand, and her latest…doesn’t disappoint. Intricately plotted and filled with fast-paced dialogue, it’s as sweetly satisfying as a glass of Sancerre.”

People

Hilderbrand has once again written an engaging story wonderfully illustrating the often complex lives of young people struggling toward adulthood.

Booklist

Be forewarned: scandal and swirling tension aside, Elin’s descriptions of the idyllic setting in this perfect beach read may inspire readers to book a getaway.”

Hello! Canada

Hilderbrand is the queen of the summer. Rich people behaving badly—perfect poolside.”

New York Post

A perfect summer read.

Ladies' Home Journal

"[The Rumor] explores human nature and the truth behind the gossip that people love to be the first to share.”

Cape Codder