I admit that I was once a snob about “beach reads.” It took one Elin Hilderbrand novel to open my eyes: “Nantucket Nights.” (A woman goes missing off Great Point Beach.
Drowning? Suicide? Murder?) But it wasn’t just the mystery I fell into — it was the sense of place Hilderbrand evoked. Many of Hilderbrand’s Nantucket-set books had me dreaming of rolling sand dunes, smelling Coppertone, packing chicken salad sandwiches, staking backyard tomatoes, and tossing towels into the Jeep for a quick ocean dip. For those of us lucky enough to have good summer memories, Hilderbrand books let us escape into the best of them, and that escape is the true beauty of a beach read.
When done with thought, they render place so vividly as to transport utterly. But when simply churned out, they can be, at best, forgettable. Advertisement The so-called “Queen of the Beach Read” knows this.
That’s why she’s retiring. “I’m out of ideas. I could tell it was happening when I wrote ‘Golden Girl.
’ I knew ‘Swan Song’ was the goodbye. I just couldn’t find any fresh takes,” Hilderbrand, 55, says in a phone interview from her Nantucket home. She knows she has a legion of devoted fans.
For them, “I’ve tried to deliver high-quality escapist wish-fulfillment beach books every summer. I never want to write something where they felt: ‘She’s done this already.’” Born in Boston and raised in Pennsylvania, Hilderbrand has delivered Nantucket-set beach books since 2000, gaining a devoted following of “Hilderbabes.
” Safe bet that many cried into their iced teas when Hilderbrand announced in 2021 that she’d throw in her beach towel in 2024. Now she has: “ Swan Song ” hit shelves in June and shot to the New York Times bestseller list. And it’s her swan song — sort of.
“Down the road, if I have a really good Nantucket-based idea, I’m certainly going to write it,” Hilderbrand says. “Swan Song” won’t disappoint: Chief Ed Kapenash is retiring, but on his last weekend, a woman goes missing at sea while the mansion of her uber-rich bosses burns. Classic Hilderbrand.
She now pivots to a collaboration with her 18-year-old daughter, Shelby Cunningham, on two books set in Western Massachusetts that sound a little like “Euphoria” meets “The Secret History.” Advertisement “The Academy” is slated for release in September 2025. Meanwhile, “ The Perfect Couple ,” boasting a cast including Nicole Kidman and Liev Schreiber, hits Netflix on Sept.
5. Nantucket’s Dreamland hosts two screenings of the show followed by Q&As with Hilderbrand on Sept. 6 (sold out) and Sept.
8. You can also catch her Aug. 14, 21, and 28 signing copies of her books at Mitchell’s Book Corner on Nantucket.
The Nantucket books are always bestsellers. What were your editors’ reactions? I didn’t even tell them. They found out by reading it on the AP .
Oh my god. The reason I did that, Lauren, is because I didn’t want them to talk me out of it. They were obviously distraught, but I really wanted to focus on the quality.
I wanted to end on top. You and Shelby are co-writing two novels set at a New England boarding school. I read they’d be set in Newport, R.
I.? We didn’t end up setting it in Newport because I intentionally wanted to separate Shelby’s experience at St. George’s [in Newport] from what happens in this book.
So it’s [set] in the northwest corner of Massachusetts. Is this YA? Nope, extremely adult. All the sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll.
Why a prep school? The things Shelby was telling me, my mouth dropped open. Just the interpersonal drama was mind-blowing. I said, “We’re writing a novel, and we’re going to set it at a boarding school.
” She was like “OK, yeah.” But [her experience] isn’t part of the plot. Has it been her goal to write with you? Advertisement Definitely not.
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She agreed to do this for me. You dedicate “Swan Song” to your ex-husband. My marriage to Chip made this life possible.
Even after we split, he was enormously helpful in taking the three kids so I could work. That I’d dedicate the last book to him was a no-brainer. You first visited Nantucket in ‘93.
What brought you? I grew up spending idyllic summers in Brewster on Route 6A. A sandy lane led to the beach. We’d play football on the beach, go to Cobies for fried clams, go for soft-serve, miniature golf, badminton in the yard — then my father died in a plane crash when I was 16.
The summers came to this abrupt end. Next summer, I had to get a job. I was working in a factory that made Halloween costumes and thought, “All I want is to get those summers back.
” After college, I was teaching, had summers off. I found a share-house on Nantucket. On day 1, I said: “I love it.
I’m never leaving.” What did you love? So many things. I bought a secondhand bicycle with a bungee cord for groceries.
I’d make myself a sandwich, go to the beach. The restaurants were incredible. My roommates and I had beach bonfires, drove onto the beach.
I was like: “This. This is what I want my life to look like.” “ The Perfect Couple” hits Netflix Sept.
5 with a star-studded cast. Once director Susanne Bier (“Bird Box,” “The Night Manager”) signed on, Nicole wanted in. Where Nicole goes, everybody follows.
The cast is incredible: Eve Hewson, Meghann Fahy from “White Lotus,” Liev Schreiber, Dakota Fanning. Advertisement Any more adaptations coming? “ 28 Summers ” is in development for a movie. “ The Five Star Weekend ” is in development.
Somebody optioned “Swan Song,” though I can’t say who yet. The four-book Winter Street series is in development. Favorite Elin Hilderbrand book? “The Blue Bistro” and “28 Summers.
” In “Swan Song,” one character has a Mary Oliver quote taped to her mirror: “Tell me, what is it you plan to do/ with your one wild and precious life?” Was that on your mind as you were thinking of retirement? I’ve always loved that line: This is all we’re getting. Are we making the most of it? But it’s fitting as a final-book quote. Beach reads get that “frivolous” label, but they can be a much-needed escape.
That’s what I found. I went to Johns Hopkins, the Iowa Writers Workshop, and ended up writing the kind of novels that maybe weren’t appreciated at those institutions, but ended up reaching so many people. I’ve seen firsthand how my books help people escape.
I’ve had people say they read in the chemo chair. One woman said her mother was in hospice; she was reading aloud “ The Identicals ” to her mother when she died. It’s an honor.
If people are in their darkest hour, think “What’s going to make me feel better?” and say my book, then I’ve spent my one wild and precious life well. Interview was edited and condensed. Learn more at elinhilderbrand.
net . Lauren Daley can be reached at [email protected].
Lauren Daley can be reached at [email protected] . Follow her on Twitter @laurendaley1 .
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