The Island

by Elin Hilderbrand

Birdie Cousins has thrown herself into the details of her daughter Chess's lavish wedding, from the floating dance floor in her Connecticut back yard to the color of the cocktail napkins. Like any mother of a bride-to-be, she is weathering the storms of excitement and chaos, tears and joy. But Birdie, a woman who prides herself on preparing for every possibility, could never have predicted the late-night phone call from Chess, abruptly announcing that she's cancelled her engagement.

It's only the first hint of what will be a summer of upheavals and revelations. Before the dust has even begun to settle, far worse news arrives, sending Chess into a tailspin of despair. Reluctantly taking a break from the first new romance she's embarked on since the recent end of her 30-year marriage, Birdie circles the wagons and enlists the help of her younger daughter Tate and her own sister India. Soon all four are headed for beautiful, rustic Tuckernuck Island, off the coast of Nantucket, where their family has summered for generations. No phones, no television, no grocery store - a place without distractions where they can escape their troubles.

But throw sisters, daughters, ex-lovers, and long-kept secrets onto a remote island, and what might sound like a peaceful getaway becomes much more. Before summer has ended, dramatic truths are uncovered, old loves are rekindled, and new loves make themselves known. It's a summertime story only Elin Hilderbrand can tell, filled with the heartache, laughter, and surprises that have made her page-turning, bestselling novels as much a part of summer as a long afternoon on a sunny beach.

Genres: Fiction, Chick Lit, Romance, Beach Reads, Audiobook, Summer Reads, Book Club

422 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Elin Hilderbrand lives on Nantucket with her husband and their three young children. She grew up in Collegeville, Pennsylvania, and traveled extensively before settling on Nantucket, which has been the setting for her five previous novels. Hilderbrand is a graduate of Johns Hopkins University and the graduate fiction workshop at the University of Iowa.

Facebook.com/ElinHilderbrand

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Reviews

[Brady Lockerby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Devoured my 28th Elin! We follow a woman named Birdie, her sister India, and Birdie's 2 daughters Chess and Tate. They're all staying at their house on Tuckernuck for a month over the summer, while all of them are simultaneously going through their own personal issues. I loveddd how all of their stories mirrored each others and just like every Elin novel, all of the loose ends were tied up perfectly with a near little bow.

[Jo Anne B · Rating 1 out of 5]

A typical beach read with a lot of drama in women's lives.

I did not like the characters at all. I even didn't like their names-Birdie, India, Chess, Tate. These were rich spoiled women who didn't deserve the men in their lives. But, ofcourse everything works out perfectly for them and everyone lives happily ever after. Bleh!!

[Annie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm reading this book and I really don't know why. OK. Actually I do: I reserved it months ago at my library and the waiting list is hundreds of people long. I feel an obligation!

About twenty pages in and I'm already exasperated with the story. Hilderbrand has a unique (and mildly annoying) habit of not having chapters in her books. Why? There are long stretches of disjointed prose separated with a heading for a different character.

All of Hilderbrand's books that I've read seem geared for commercial success- written according to her recipe for success. Take several women, throw in a few love interests and place on a beach locale--preferably Nantucket or Cape Cod. Stir in a bit of family drama and simmer for 300-400 pages until the reader gives in to the mindless writing or tosses the book aside for better written novels.

I'm giving myself 100 pages with this novel. If I hate, then I'll return to the library as soon as possible.

....

And, I didn't "hate" the book, but it was absolutely not my favorite. So contrived and melodramatic! I finished it, but a mere twelve hours after closing the book I'm hard pressed to remember details. For me the book was like literary cotton candy. I don't think I'll be reading any more of Hilderbrand's novels.

[Book Concierge · Rating 1 out of 5]

Book on CD read by Denise Hicks

This is just a sappy soap opera set on Tuckernuck Island off Nantucket. Everyone is wealthy. Everyone is unhappy in love, OR, has fallen instantly in love (possibly with the wrong person). Everyone behaves like a 3-year-old or at their best like they’re in junior high.

Here’s a sample:
They had officially been “together” for only nine days, but every day on Tuckernuck was a lifetime, and so it felt like forever. They had made love sixteen times, they had shared eleven meals, they had watched three movies, gone to two restaurants, taken five boat rides, caught two fish.
I don’t know a single high-powered, computer genius professional woman who thinks like this!

The sibling rivalry arguments are even worse. Not only do the two young women carry on like toddlers who can’t share a toy, their 50-something mother and aunt also dig up their own sibling rivalries.

I finished it only because it fulfilled a challenge. It was fast (thank heavens for MP3 players that let you speed up the delivery) and didn’t require much thought. But it was still a waste of time.

[Briar's Reviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Island by Elin Hilderbrand was a contemporary, women's fiction read that had me hooked.

Content Warning: Suicide, death and cheating.

I picked up this book from a local indie bookstore as a "blind date book." It was one of those fun marketing ideas where they wrap the book up in brown paper and put some notes on the paper about what the book is about. The books were on sale for $6.00 too, so I thought... what a steal! I'll pick a unique book that I hopefully haven't read and give it a whirl! I was surprised and delighted to pick this book up, as I have been eying down Elin Hilderbrand for a while, but I just never managed to grab one of her books.

The Island didn't pull me in right away, but by 3/4s into it I was HOOKED. There's something about the drama and intrigue that brought me back to my soap opera loving days. I had to know what happened at all costs. The more I got into the book, the more I had to binge. It was quite the ride for me, and it made me smile. I miss these kinds of books that pull me deeper in as I go along. What a nice change.

But anyways, time for the actual content and review!

This book follows a set of four women in one family. Birdie, her daughters Tate and Chess, and her sister India. After a traumatic and tragic loss, the four set off to "The Island" - an old family cottage in Nantucket that will bring back many memories and make new ones. Of course, there's lots of drama going on for all four women - loss, love, grief, and careers. Each woman goes on her own journey, while simultaneously having effects on the others.

It's quite the women's fiction read. I definitely think it'll be a niche for some readers, but I also think it was very well written. I can tell why many readers wouldn't like it, but I enjoyed dipping my toes into the sand and watching the stories unfold. Each woman changes and grows throughout the book, which made it really stand out to me. I do love good old fashioned drama (which this book had a lot of), but the growth and discovery really stood out to me. Seeing these women deal with difficult issues and try to solve them in their own little ways made this book so special.

I'll definitely be trying to pick up more books by Elin. In fact, I already found one! This book is over ten years old, so hopefully I can pick up a few more recent ones and see what journey I go on with them.

If you love soap opera drama, character growth and development, potential love triangles, and a pinch of trauma... Check out this book.

Four out of five stars!

[Celia · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Island - Tuckernuck, a real honest to goodness island about 1/2 mile from Nantucket. It is there that 4 women, 2 sets of sisters go to relax, regenerate and resolve their own personal problems and those of their family.

There is
Birdie - mother of Chess and Tate, a hopeless romantic and the victim of a failed marriage
Chess - (short for Francesca) who broke her engagement to Mr Wonderful because she did not love him enough
Tate - always playing second fiddle to Chess and wants to find love on her own
India - Birdie's sister whose husband committed suicide

So, yeah, its chick lit but I do enjoy Hilderbrand's writing and I needed a break from the intense stuff I have been reading lately.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4

[Cara · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good beach book, actually set on the beach. It's the story of four women: Birdie, the mom, who's newly in love with a guy named Hank; India, her sister, who is sophisticated and cool but has her own love confusion; Chess, the golden child daughter, who broke up with her fiance and then he died in a rock climbing accident, so she's grieving; and Tate, the sporty computer geek younger daughter, who has a huge crush on the caretaker, left over from when they were kids. The four of them head to the family beach house, which is accessible only by boat and thus the perfect place to get away from the world.

What I liked about this book is the realistic way everyone's emotions were mixed. When Tate and Barrett (the caretaker) start dating, the other ladies are happy for Tate but jealous and sort of nauseated about how sicky cute lovey they are. That's real. Also, they don't all become instant buds and have a sisterly blast the whole time, there's a lot of time when they're bored or fighting or whatever. The book also captures the fleeting nature of the last days of the vacation well. It was very true to life.

One thing that struck me about the tale is the very dramatic, high-strung, crashing feelings of being in love, not just for Tate (this is her first love, so not surprising there), but also for Chess and, most surprisingly, Birdie. She's all star-struck and pining for this guy Hank, to the point that she breaks the island rules and sneaks off to the one spot on the other side of the island and up to your ankles in water where you can get a cell signal... every single day. Even after a few days of the brush-off, she keeps calling him every day anyway, obsessed and unable to resist. The longing, the pining, the stupidity, the refusal to face reality--all so familiar. I've been there and felt exactly that, acted exactly that way. I thought this kind of thing was something everyone grew out of, but this woman is in her late 50s. Is that how it is in real life, too? Women are still falling head over heels and chasing after disinterested men long after they've grown up and should know better? Probably. Too bad.

Everyone in this book is a little childish overall, actually, particularly Chess and Tate. They're in their 30s but act like teenagers a lot of the time. So much drama!

Anyway, everything gets wrapped up very tidily into a pleasing happy ending that's just short of being too perfect. I liked it.

[Holli · Rating 5 out of 5]

I could hardly put this book down. It was that good. I really love this author and she outdid herself with this novel. It had mother-daughter relationships, sister relationships, marriage, divorce, death, new love.... hurt, anger, excitement, hope..... what a book! Loved it!

[Alison · Rating 1 out of 5]

This novel is about 4 women (two 30-something sisters and their mother and aunt) and the month they spend together in their family home on Tuckernuck Island, off Nantucket. Everything about this novel seems so contrived, from the constant references to brand names, the author's political views (really, what did that add to the novel?) to the drama these women drew to themselves.

Each of these women were incredibly shallow, petty, jealous and immature and seemed to be focused on only 4 things - sex, alcohol, their gourmet foods and themselves. And the men they attracted weren't much different. Like the women, none of the men's characters were very well developed, giving the impression they were all pretty much spineless, weak and, in most cases, tended toward mental instability. None of the characters were very likeable, especially the women.

There was the mother, Birdie, who blamed her ex-husband for 'ruining' her life by suggesting she not work but instead, stay home to raise their family while he worked for a living, earning multi-millions per year. An income that Birdie seemed to have no problem wasting on foolish things like a floating island in her pond! She also had no compunctions about sleeping with the husband of another woman and even became incensed when her lover expressed regret at his callousness when his wife passed away.

When India, Birdie's sister, isn't spending her time smoking, drinking and directing sexual comments and wolf-whistles toward a man decades younger than herself, not to mention he's also the love object of one, if not both of her nieces, she spends most of her time on the island brooding about her late husband who committed suicide years before and thinking about an art student who is trying to pursue a scandalous affair with her. We learn she virtually abandoned her husband emotionally and pretty much expected he should be able to seek out the help he needed on his own while suffering from a crippling depression. At the same time, she refuses to accompany him on an overseas trip where he ultimately takes his own like and then expresses resentment at having to travel there to bring his corpse back home.

Chess, the oldest daughter of Birdie, comes to the island after shaving her hair off after Michael, the fiancee she broke up with is killed in a questionable accident that might have actually been a suicide. She reveals she started this relationship and allowed it to progress more than a year before she finally admits she doesn't love Micheal enough to marry him and instead, is really passionately in love with is brother, who she met the same night as Michael. It should come as no surprise that Chess is incapable of considering the feelings of others given she also reveals she used another man, Barret, more than 10 years before by feigning interest in him simply to hurt her sister Tate who had a teenage crush on him.

Despite being a highly sought after computer genius, Birdie's younger daughter Tate is portrayed as an emotionally stunted 30-year woman who is consumed by her own petty jealousies and insecurities. Before even arriving at the island, she begins obsessing about her former crush and acts like a 12 year old, doing everything she can to call attention to herself whenever Barret is around and acting like a spoiled, petulant child the moment things don't go her way.

I did enjoy the descriptions of the island and house but felt it was incomplete and stopped a few times to look up more information about the area but a little more research on the author's part might have given me a better picture of the area. In addition to the characters' flawed personalities, it was things like the lack any more details than could be gleaned through Wikipedia; the author's ignorance for details that she did give (for instance, not understanding poison ivy does not spread through contact with the rash) and the unlikelihood of other scenarios in the story, (such as someone offering 1/2 to 3/4 of a million for a small piece of "art" made from seaweed, driftwood, shells and hot glue(???) even if it was made by a famous artist) had me constantly rolling my eyes!

I was listening to the audio version of this novel - if I had been reading a print copy, I doubt I'd have wasted my time reading beyond the first 30 pages or so. But since I was able to do other things as I listened - and I was already 4 books behind on my reading challenge - I continued through the end. But I have no plans on reading anything else by this author in the future.

[Melodie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Relationships, especially family relationships are fraught with potholes.Hell, let's be honest here, minefields! Especially complicated is the mother/daughter relationship.Throw in some sisterly sibling rivalry with a trip to an isolated island for some togetherness and you have the premise for this book.
There are no easy answers to the troubles that plague the four women of this family. Each harbors simmering resentments,hurts, fears.And they truly love one another. Through all the mess that makes up their lives, they are family.
I enjoyed getting to know these characters. They each were given voices and the story was told as they lived it. Sometimes they were speaking over one another, but don't we all do that sometimes in our own families?
While there were few real surprises for me, there was one I didn't see coming. Excellent summer beachy vacation read!

[Carla · Rating 3 out of 5]

I took this book with me to read by the pool in Florida, it seemed like it would be an easy read. I was very wrong. I read a little bit of this book each day but it took awhile to finish. The island of Tuckernuck sounds heavenly. I was really hoping for more of a happy beach read with these four women instead of lots of drama.

This book was full of angst. Birdie and her sister India, grew up spending summers on Tuckernuck. Birdie is now the owner of the house on Tuckernuck, but no one has been there for twelve years. When her daughter Chess is supposed to get married, they plan a two week mother/daughter getaway on the island. When things do not work out, and Chess' life is falling apart it becomes a four woman getaway with India and Birdie's younger daughter Tate joining them for a month instead, to help Chess deal with her depression and issues. This group of woman have so many issues in their life that I am surprised they did not kill each other before the month was over. However, real life is messy, so it was aptly written. There is a lot of anger but there is a lot of love as well. Of course issues do get solved and life works out but I do not want to spoil the story. Just do not think that this is a light beach read.

[Janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well-crafted characters but a slow story. The island of Tuckernuck sounds heavenly. I was really hoping for more of a happy beach read with these four women instead of lots of drama. However, real life is messy, so it was aptly written.

[Suezq · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wish I had read the reviews prior to reading this book, I grabbed it because I have enjoyed other Elin Hilderbrand books in the past. I agree with the others who have said the women were spoiled and not at all realistic. Two examples, one daughter is 30 years old, owns/runs her own (very successful) computer company, yet acts like a spoiled 3 year old when she doesn't get her way. The mother, repeated calls her current boyfriend like a deranged high school girl in love, and when he doesn't answer calls her ex-husband at 2:00 a.m. to complain "Grant doesn't love me!" Seriously?

With the millions of books out there to read, do yourself a favor and don't waste time on this one.

[Martie Nees Record · Rating 2 out of 5]

Genre: Beach Read
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Pub. Date: 05/01/2012

Mini Review

I had just lost a pet and wanted/needed a beach read. Something fluffy, something to lift my spirits, and to help me get through the mourning process. I had read Elin Hilderbrand’s “Summer of ‘69” as an Advance Review Copy (ARC.) I very much enjoyed the novel so I went looking for something from her. I usually don’t buy books. But, I bought “The Island,” because I thought it would fit the bill. It did not. The story revolves around a family of four women—a 50 something mom, her sister, and her two grown daughters. The eldest daughter had a mental trauma surrounding the death of her ex-fiancée and is in a deep depression. They decided to revisit the family’s bare-bones cabin on a tiny island near Nantucket to help her regroup. The plot sounds like a perfect beach read. I was expecting lots of female bonding. My issue was with the characters and their love interests. When it comes to the women's’ love life, I swear the dialogue sounded like they were all in junior high. How could four intelligent, successful females talk as if they are in the TV series “Saved by the Bell?” Quote from the middle-aged mom, “My boyfriend doesn’t love me.” From mom’s 30-year-old daughter to her 32-year-old sister (the one who is too depressed to come out of her room), “You are trying to take him from me.” Enough already. I enjoyed reading about the island and beach life, which did help me forget my sadness, but not enough to enjoy this tedious chick-lit novel.

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[Taury · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Island by Elin Hilderbrand
Sometimes a person just needs to read a perfect alternative reality in a sometimes crappy reality. Even if it is a puke romance on Nantucket.

[Bookworm · Rating 4 out of 5]

The relationships in this novel are both heartfelt and multi-faceted. At the heart of the story are the relationships between mothers, daughters and sisters. This is also a story about soul searching and reconnecting.

I enjoyed Elin Hilderbrand's storytelling, she really drew me in. As the story flowed, I enjoyed getting to 'know' these characters even better. They each had a story to share, and each story was slowly revealed. The book is told in alternating point of views from the four women.

I found poignant moments within the book and as I read, I found myself more and more invested in these characters.
All four women recall several events from the past and the one who intrigued me most was Chess. I was eager to learn her secrets and when the big one was revealed, I gasped.
Tate annoyed me a bit, mostly because she would act childish more often than not.

I enjoyed the romance within the story, some of it was subtle, some of it more intense and I was eager to see how everyone's story would turn out. I enjoy romance where lovers are separated, then brought back together again. One couple however, made me go "Huh?". But oh well I guess, to each his own.

I felt like I was there, on the island as I read. I could almost hear the water lapping at the shore and I could almost feel the sand at my feet.
The Island is the perfect summer read and I look forward to reading more from this author.
I recommend this one if you are in the mood to get involved with a story and its characters and live within its pages for a little while.

"God, the pain of having a sister, another girl, another woman, not you, but nearly you. A friend, a confidante, a rival, an enemy."
p.332, The Island

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy and fun beach book.

The women were a little over the top with their issues but I loved how they enjoyed
their cocktail hour every evening.....very funny!
The thing I got out of this book is I want to try the wine they drank....Sancerre....heard it
was delicious.

Fun read that is forgetable when you leave the beach!

[PinkAmy loves books, cats and naps · Rating 4 out of 5]

A woman, her two adult daughters and her sister spend a summer together, revealing secrets, addressing conflict, and growing during a summer on Nantucket island. The book lags in parts. It wasn't my favorite of this author, but it's worth reading.

[Lorrea - WhatChaReadin'? · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Cousins family thought they knew how their summer was going to be. Spend a week at the family home in Tuckernuck and then prepare for Chess's wedding in September. But those plans would not pan out as it was supposed to. When Chess calls off her engagement and then her finance ends up dead, everyone's world is thrown into a tailspin. Birdie, decides that instead of just her and Chess spending a week at the family home, it should be both of her girls for the entire month of July. Then her sister, India decides to join them as well. These four women will grow closer as family and help Chess heal from her heartache.

I have always wanted to plan a trip with my mother and my sister. Just us girls hanging out at the beach without a care in the world. Tuckernuck sounds like the perfect place, where there is no cell service, not electric and no hot water. Having to have groceries brought in by boat every morning and the trash taken away using the same method at night.

When Chess suddenly and inexplicably calls off her wedding, Birdie is shook. At first she thinks to call off the week in Tuckernuck, but when she sees how Chess is suffering she decides to extend the trip and call in reinforcements. With the help of her younger daughter Tate and her sister India, they are determined to get Chess out of the depression she has gotten herself into and try to make her life a little more cherry.

Lots of interesting things happen on the island of Tuckernuck, most importantly, these ladies learn how to love. To love themselves and one another and a few might even find love from the opposite sex.

Elin Hilderbrand's books always make me want to take a vacation. One day I hope to visit the Northeastern beaches.

[Amanda McGill · Rating 3 out of 5]

For full review - The Limit of Books Does Not Exist

I first read an Elin Hilderbrand novel earlier this year and I’m addicted! They are great escape reads that are perfect for reading on a beach or just curled up on the couch! The Island is no exception and it was perfect for a fall couch read!

The Island focuses on 4 women – 2 daughters, their mother and their aunt. Each of them is broken and escape to Tuckernuck Island. The biggest flaw in this novel, was the women weren’t very likable. The daughters, who were in their 30s, acted like teenagers who stomped and stormed around when things didn’t work out. Their mother wasn’t any better since she just let them act that way and sat quietly on the side. Also it didn’t help that everyone was uber rich with tons of free time.

The storylines of the 4 women were intriguing and I was curious to see what would happen with each of them. Most of it was predictable, but I still enjoyed the journey getting to the end.

I would definitely recommend Elin Hilderbrand, but The Island isn’t her best novel. Still an enjoyable read though!

[Betsy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The premise was good. Once the basis for the story was set, it went downhill from there. Here are my notes to the annoying women characters to save them high therapy bills in life:

Birdie - you chose to become a certain type of wife, then you later resented your husband for it. He didn't make you change, you did. Then you dated a married man and got upset when you thought he was cheating on you.

India - Didn't you think to at least call your boys and say hello? Write them?

Chess - So, you pulled a Brittany Spears. At least you sought help. Good for you.

Tate - Really? A hissy fit because your boyfriend wants to take a high paying job with a woman for a boss? Grow up already. If you are going to be a substitute mother for young children, you really MUST act more maturely than they do.

And, to the author.....too repetitive. I am tired of hearing about Birdie's favorite wine, Chess' shorn head, etc.

To the audiobook reader.....stick to children's literature if you are going to speak in a silly, sing songy voice.

[Erin Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

There was not a single thing that I didn't love about this book. Wonderfully written with characters that I truly cared about - I couldn't ask for anything more. I loved how the author spoke from the perspective of the four women this book centers around - Birdie, the matriarch; India, her sister; Chess, her oldest daughter; and Tate, her youngest daughter. We watch these four women as their lives completely change and how each of them react to it. I loved the symmetry between the two sets of sisters and the tragedies that befell each of them. It kept me intrigued, guessing and wanting more. I found myself reading for hours and unable to put it down.

I love her writing - this is the third book I have read by her - and can't wait to read another. This book reminded me of why I love to read so much. I was transported to a place where living was at its very basic, but the emotions and issues dealt with are anything but basic.

[Nette · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yeah, it's embarrassing, but it's become part of my summer ritual: every July or August I read Hilderbrand's latest book, always featuring bare feet on the cover and a cast of good-looking and mildly tormented women spending time on a Nantucket-adjacent beach or island, working out their problems with the help of sparkling water, beach glass, seafood, and the local version of the Old Spice Man. This particular island is called Tuckernuck and the natives greet each other by calling out, "Life is good!" In real life this would result in daily killing sprees, but instead (spoiler!) everyone lives happily ever after.

[HÜLYA · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gereğinden fazla uzatılmış gibi geldi.. Karakterleri sevemedim elimde süründü durdu.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first I thought that I would put this book away unfinished. I wasn't totally into it and I really didn't care for the characters. After about 75 pages though, I couldn't put it down! The author makes you love and hate each of the characters.

Birdie was not my favorite character at all. There were times when I thought she was pathetic, boring and just let people walk all over her. Then, halfway through the book, she changed and I liked her more. She still wasn't my favorite in the book but she was a little more manageable.

I had a complete love/hate relationship with Chess. I got so tired of her self-pity (yes, those who have read this book will probably think I am heartless) and depression. I mean, after all, she is the one who broke off the engagement. After reading more, you understand why Chess was feeling so guilty but it took awhile to get the whole story (which is the point, I am sure). At the end of the book, I loved her! She was probably one of my favorites!

I thought Tate would be my favorite character at the beginning! She was so fun and happy and optimistic! I really enjoyed her at the beginning until she got to Tuckernuck Island. Then I found her to be a little too self-conscious. She would be thinking "I want to do this but Chess wouldn't do it that way". Who cares? Be your own person. Then, more towards the end, I found her to be childish. However, at the end of the book, I loved her again!

Barrett and India were by far my favorite characters throughout the book. India was amazing! She was so confident, independent, sexy and I found no flaws with her whatsoever! Barrett was great too!

I loved how the book went from all four women's point of views. The author would get you caught up in one woman's problems and life and then the chapter would end and I would be so disappointed to be leaving her and then in no time I would get caught up in the next woman's story and it would happen all over again.

All in all, I would recommend this book. It was a little slow to start but then you feel a kinship with all four women. The author makes you want to live "simply", as they live on Tuckernuck and I actually found myself craving to spend a couple of weeks with no electricity, only cold water and absolute privacy. I finished the book feeling like I had four new friends.

[Erin Cataldi · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was one of the last books my mom got me before she passed and I wanted to like it more. I didn't hate it - it was a compelling story and had a good plot - I just didn't love any of the characters. The Island centers on four women staying a month on a remote island while they all grapple with issues in their lives. Chess has just called off her marriage, quit her job, and is about to receive the biggest blow of her life. Her sister, Tate, has been coasting through life making big bucks as a computer programmer but doesn't have any friendships or relationships to speak of. Their mother, Birdie, has finally met a man after she separated from her husband but she's putting that on hold to spend some time with her daughters. Birdie's sister, India, is escaping a scandal at the art school she's working at. While on the island the only contact with the outside world is Barrett the hot young caretaker who comes once a day to bring groceries and keep the isolated house in working order. While they lick their wounds, they need to us the month to communicate with each other and maybe solve some of their issues. It weaved together well, I just wished I liked or related to the characters more.

[Barbara Sissel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this story of four women, two sets of sisters a generation apart, spending a month together on an island off the coast of Nantucket. The setting is one of the things that brought the novel alive. Elin Hilderbrand knows this tiny island. She takes the reader by the hand and leads them all over it making them see it, vividly. You can nearly feel the sand give under your feet and smell the salty air. She knows these two pairs of sisters, too, and the particularly layered and mysterious corners and secret nooks and crannies that exist between sisters. There's a secret, well, really more than one, but there's one huge secret at the center of the story. It's awful and shocking and exceedingly painful as it works it way out. Sort of like gouging out a splinter. The strength of this novel for me lies in the dialogue, especially between Chess and Tate. Their mother Birdie is a delight. I wasn't crazy about India. I think it would have been a stronger book without her viewpoint. But overall, it was a very good read, comparable perhaps to Elizabeth Berg.

[Shannon O’Neill · Rating 1 out of 5]

Don't do it. Reading about rich people is tiresome, esp those as stupid and emotionally bizarre as these people. Mix in tedious details (must we know what they have for breakfast every day???) and the author's penchant for name dropping wines and restaurants every other second... Boring and strange book.

[Lisa Berkovits · Rating 4 out of 5]

The way Elin Hilderbrand describes the island makes it sound so magical! A bucket list place to visit for sure! A great beach read about family dynamics between sisters and mothers.

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Elin Hilderbrand's latest novel, The Island, tells the story of 4 women over one month on Tuckernuck Island. Birdie's daughter, Chess, is about to marry the perfect man. To celebrate and try to reconnect with Chess, Birdie invites her to spend a week in the old family vacation home on Tuckernuck Island. When Chess calls off the engagement and shortly after the ex fiancee dies in a freak climbing, the accident, the week turns into a month and Birdie invites her other daughter Tate and her own sister India to try and help Chess find her way out of the deep depression she has fallen in. They plan for a quiet, nurturing month caring for Chess, but the island has its own ideas. The reality will turn out to be far more exciting and healing than any of them expect.

This was my first introduction to Elin Hilderbrand and I was very pleasantly surprised. I anticipated a shallow but mildly entertaining summer read. Instead I found impressive depth and detail with all the mess and complication of real life. The characters were interesting, fully realized people who I would be friends with in real life. I enjoyed every minute of getting to know them. If the end is a bit of a fairy tale, all neatly tied up and happy, I liked the book even better for it. A thoroughly enjoyable read and I look forward to diving into the rest of Hilderbrand's work.