JUNE 2022 - AudioFile
Erin Bennett delivers this stellar beach read with a historical twist. The Hotel Nantucket was destroyed by fire in 1922; now a new, British owner has restored it. Lizbet, the general manager, who is coping with a broken heart, is determined that the extravagantly refurbished property will be successful. But listeners soon learn that a ghost is on the premises. While the hotel staff—all needing to be successful for their own reasons—are amusing, Bennett’s portrayals of the unexpected duo of the ghost and Lizbet will especially win over listeners. Bennett shines as she achieves the delicate balance between the charming but jaded manager and the spirit who is longing for someone to help her uncover the mystery of her demise years ago. G.M. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
From the Publisher
"Hilderbrand is the absolute queen of the beach reads, and her latest offering is dishy and fun, as a classic Nantucket hotel attempts to reinvent itself with a new billionaire owner. It might look glamorous on the outside, but behind closed doors, there is plenty of dysfunction among the staff, drama on the guest side, and a bad reputation the place can’t shake from a tragic fire in 1922."—Mackenzie Dawson, New York Post
"Hilderbrand, who has perfected the romantic beach read, returns with a summer scandal at a Nantucket hotel, where fresh off a bad breakup, general manager Lizbet Keaton struggles to revive the storied but struggling business–and to write her own second act.”—Barbara VanDenburgh, USA Today
“One of Elin’s best books ever…Packed with great surprises, fabulous writing, and an army of wonderful characters, The Hotel Nantucket will keep you pinned to your beach chair until the very last page.”—Brad Thor, TODAY
"The Hotel Nantucket has lots to love: great food, juicy gossip, secrets and scandals, and that special something that Hilderbrand delivers novel after novel."—Sarah Gelman, Business Insider
"It doesn’t feel like summer unless I read an Elin Hilderbrand book, which I’ve done every year for almost a decade....They’re full of secrets and romantic drama and beaches. I’ve read my fair share of novels involving magic and dragons, but fancy New England island living often feels more fantastical to me than anything from George R.R. Martin.” —Gilbert Cruz, The New York Times
"Bring on the fresh-baked gougères and the hydrangea-blue cashmere throws: A classic fictional setting—the grand hotel—gets the Hilderbrand treatment. The beloved beach novelist’s 28th book is another tour de force...Honestly, who needs Nantucket. It could hardly be more fun than this book."
—Kirkus Reviews
"It's not officially summer until Elin Hilderbrand drops her annual page-turner. In this one, novelist Vivi dies in a hit-and-run and ascends to the Beyond, where she learns she has three "nudges" to influence events on earth. In this touching, scenic story, we learn what it is to let go and let life go on."—Good Housekeeping (on GOLDEN GIRL)
"I like Elin Hilderbrand. You should, too. Her latest is “The Hotel Nantucket” (Little Brown, $29), and like Stephen King, she brings knowing confidence to an abused genre."—Christopher Borrelli, The Chicago Tribune
"It's almost summer, which means Hilderbrand's legions of fans will be anxious for her latest. . . . This is classic Hilderbrand. . . . hopefully, she has many more Nantucket tales in store."—Booklist (on GOLDEN GIRL)
PRAISE FOR 28 SUMMERS:
"Summer on Hilderbrand's Nantucket is never dull. This time she focuses on former lovers who now lead separate lives but share an island idyll once a year. Captivating and bittersweet."—People
"This sweeping love story is Hilderbrand's best ever. . . Her stories are relatable in an aspirational way, but her attention to detail is what makes her characters feel like living, breathing people you want to know. They would never skimp on citronella candles; they would save the least creaky rocking chair for you."—Elisabeth Egan, New York Times Book Review
"Hilderbrand steers this tightly written novel with ease and skill. . . . Less a story about a secretive affair and more a tale of sweet nostalgia and fate, this title will be popular with a wide audience."—Library Journal
"In her 25th novel, Hilderbrand gets everything right and leaves her ardent fans hungry for No. 26. Hilderbrand sets the gold standard in escapist fiction."—Kirkus Reviews
"Stylish, witty and guaranteed to make you feel like a local.”—People Magazine
Library Journal
06/01/2022
The latest from the prolific and popular Hilderbrand (following Golden Girl) takes a satisfying look behind the scenes of a luxury Nantucket hotel. London-based billionaire Xavier Darling buys and lavishly renovates the long-derelict Hotel Nantucket, hoping to win the coveted "Five Keys" rating from an Instagram travel influencer. When he needs a local general manager, he hires Lizbet Keaton, who doesn't have hotel experience but previously ran a successful restaurant for 15 years, until she was betrayed by her business partner boyfriend. Staff shortages at the Hotel Nantucket (perhaps an oblique reference to COVID-era labor shortages) drive Lizbet to hire a raft of similarly inexperienced workers—disparate characters with slowly revealed backstories and secrets. The hotel turns out to be haunted by the ghost of a young chambermaid who was murdered there a hundred years earlier; to end the haunting, the hotel staff will have to help the ghost get closure. Beyond the intrigue, readers will learn something of the way a luxury hotel runs, including the long hours and dedication of the staff. VERDICT References to pop culture (music, celebrities, social media, fashion) will please a modern crowd, and readers will cheer for Lizbet, the crew of the Hotel Nantucket, and the ghost.—Jan Marry
JUNE 2022 - AudioFile
Erin Bennett delivers this stellar beach read with a historical twist. The Hotel Nantucket was destroyed by fire in 1922; now a new, British owner has restored it. Lizbet, the general manager, who is coping with a broken heart, is determined that the extravagantly refurbished property will be successful. But listeners soon learn that a ghost is on the premises. While the hotel staff—all needing to be successful for their own reasons—are amusing, Bennett’s portrayals of the unexpected duo of the ghost and Lizbet will especially win over listeners. Bennett shines as she achieves the delicate balance between the charming but jaded manager and the spirit who is longing for someone to help her uncover the mystery of her demise years ago. G.M. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2022-04-27
Bring on the fresh-baked gougères and the hydrangea-blue cashmere throws: A classic fictional setting—the grand hotel—gets the Hilderbrand treatment.
The beloved beach novelist’s 28th book is another tour de force, deploying all her usual tricks and tropes and clever points of view, again among them a character from the afterlife and the collective “we” of gossipy island residents. Our ghost is Grace Hadley, a teenage chambermaid who died under suspicious circumstances in a hotel fire in 1922. Grace’s lonely days are over when the historic property is purchased and reopened by a London billionaire. As Xavier Darling tells his general manager, Lizbet Keaton, their goal will be to get five out of five keys from Shelly Carpenter, an undercover hotel blogger who has not awarded top honors to any spot visited so far. A gorgeous remodel, a sterling staff, free treats in the minibar, and—of course, since this is Hilderbrand—an incredible restaurant where a disco ball drops from the ceiling every night at 9 p.m. and the chef is hotter than any dish on the menu are all in play as the first guests come streaming in. Which one is the hard-to-please Ms. Carpenter? Other addictive storylines include a rich kid cleaning rooms to expiate some mysterious, terrible thing he did this past spring, an evil beauty breaking up island marriages (instead of a gun in the drawer, there's a half-used Chanel eye shadow in Pourpre Brun), and the desperate attempts of Lizbet’s ex, who sexted with their wine rep, to win her back. One of the special services Lizbet creates for the guests of the Hotel Nantucket is a “Blue Book” containing all her recommended island itineraries. A real-life version is included as an appendix, giving the complete scoop on where to eat, drink, sunbathe, shop, and stay on the island, plus notes on which Hilderbrand novels happened where. If you’re ready to check out Chicken Box or to try the sandwiches on herb bread that lured the author to become a permanent island resident in 1993, the Elin Hilderbrand Bucket List Weekend really is a thing.
Honestly, who needs Nantucket. It could hardly be more fun than this book.
