5 keys!! What an exuberant novel!! I did not want it to end. I’m booking my trip to Nantucket now!
I thought other readers were being over-enthusiastic when they declared that Nantucket was next on their travel list after reading this novel. Well, I now wholeheartedly agree. The author describes every place with such detail that I almost felt like I was on Nantucket. Isn’t that the mark of a perfect beach read?
I fell in love with each one of the large cast of characters and by the end, I was weeping. They had all become like friends! (Not every novel has to win a Pulitzer Prize for it to be thoroughly engaging and entertaining.) Not only did the end of the story mark the end of the final chapter, but I felt like it marked the end of summer: I felt both melancholy and hopeful.
If you’ve ever been curious about behind-the-scenes of a luxury hotel, then you will love this book. The author skillfully brings together a diverse cast of characters at the newly-renovated Hotel Nantucket. There are the competitive front-desk clerks, each with a story of their own; Lizbet, the heartbroken manager who is determined to win the coveted Five Keys award from the mystery travel blogger Shelly Carpenter; the bellboys; the cleaning staff; the billionaire and absentee owner; and last but not least, the whimsical ghost of Grace, who still haunts the hotel to this very day.
“But who doesn’t love a little summer romance? She just hopes they don’t forget about that article. If they solve her murder case, she’ll finally be able to get some much needed rest. It has been an exhausting century.”
There’s romance, there’s mystery, there’s plenty of humor, and of course the star of the story, glorious Nantucket. Plus, there is a fabulous travel guide included with the book written by none other than Elin Hilderbrand herself. I miss all the characters already. Highly recommend!
(Many thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy via NetGalley in return for an honest review. All opinions are my own.)
About the Book:
Fresh off a bad breakup with a longtime boyfriend, Nantucket sweetheart Lizbet Keaton is desperately seeking a second act. When she’s named the new general manager of the Hotel Nantucket, a once Gilded Age gem turned abandoned eyesore, she hopes that her local expertise and charismatic staff can win the favor of their new London billionaire owner, Xavier Darling, as well as that of Shelly Carpenter, the wildly popular Instagram tastemaker who can help put them back on the map. And while the Hotel Nantucket appears to be a blissful paradise, complete with a celebrity chef-run restaurant and an idyllic wellness center, there’s a lot of drama behind closed doors. The staff (and guests) have complicated pasts, and the hotel can’t seem to overcome the bad reputation it earned in 1922 when a tragic fire killed nineteen-year-old chambermaid Grace Hadley. With Grace gleefully haunting the halls, a staff harboring all kinds of secrets, and Lizbet’s own romantic uncertainty, is the Hotel Nantucket destined for success or doom?
Filled with the emotional depth and multiple points of view that characterize Hilderbrand’s novels (The Blue Bistro, Golden Girl) as well as an added dash of Roaring Twenties history, The Hotel Nantucket offers something for everyone in this compelling summer drama.
