Elin Hilderbrand talks about a new novel and what her “retirement” means

Elin Hilderbrand is the “queen of beach readings” and author of 28 novels, including her latest book, The Nantucket Hotel. Ahead of her Summer 2022 release on June 14, she spoke with women’s day on the inspiration behind the book, loyal Easter egg readers can look forward to, its comprehensive list of Nantucket recommendations, and exclusive information on the new “Beach Read Suite” coming to the actual Nantucket hotel. Additionally, she shares the news that her new novel will be available two weeks earlierexclusively to Literati Book Club subscribers.
Hilderbrand admits she was hesitant to choose her own book for her Literati book club, The Beach & Beyond. “It’s not really who I am,” she says. “I’m not on Literati to promote my own work, I’m on Literati to highlight the work of others. But the powers that be have assured me that this is really what readers want – they want access anticipated but also a more intimate conversation with me about the novel,” she continues, “and so that’s what the app does, that’s what my author chats do. deepest involvement from my readers.”
That’s not to say she won’t relish the opportunity to connect with readers, as the “top expert” on her own work. “It will be so much fun to discuss my own work,” says Hilderbrand. “And people who subscribe to Literati will get it two weeks earlier, which will be a great boon. I think people are really excited about this book, and people like to be first, and so I think it will draw a lot of people into it.”
The June book marks Hilderbrand’s first anniversary with Literati, and she says it’s been a learning experience. “You learn a lot,” she says. “I listened to readers’ response, like what kind of books they want me to choose.”
Read on for all the details on The Nantucket Hotel, as well as more of our conversation with the author. Hilderbrand explains what her next “retirement” will be like, reveals her plans to write a novel with her daughter, and shares an update on ongoing page-to-screen adaptations.
What is the new 2022 book by Elin Hilderbrand, The Nantucket Hotel in regards to?
“The Nantucket Hotel talk about a big hotel. In the novel, the hotel has sat idle for years and years and is a horror and a blight on Nantucket,” she said.
When a London billionaire named Xavier Darling rushes to save him, he hires Nantucket native Lizbet Keaton, who is going through a bad breakup. “It’s his second act,” notes Hilderbrand. “She’s the boot in the field. It’s her responsibility to run the hotel, hire the staff,” and impress Shelly Carpenter, the “Hotel Confidential” Instagram influencer whose review could make or break the success of the reopening of the hotel. That may be easier said than done, due to secrets and complications, including the ghost of maid Grace Hadley, who died in 1922. “She’s creating all kinds of mischief, on top of just watching this happens over the summer,” Hilderbrand teases.
When asked what excited her most about the new novel, Hilderbrand says she had a lot of fun with the challenge of creating a whole world inside the hotel. “The interior design was really fun and I scoured a number of interior design sites and used the work of designers that I know personally. And then I created a cast of characters – and they’re not not fully formed. You have to sit with them day after day, week after week, month after month until you know who they are and how they will interact. I started this novel over six times trying to get the things.
Is the Nantucket hotel a real place?
“I based the hotel on a place that exists in Nantucket called the Nantucket Hotel and Resort, which is a place where I spent a lot of time. It’s where I do my weekends Elin Hilderbrand Bucket List in January. I’m very good friends with the owners, so it was fun to imagine a different past for this hotel and then a different present and future.”
Hilderbrand says the owners of the Nantucket Hotel have read an early copy of his new novel and are creating a “Beach Read Suite” using some of the design elements she put into the novel. “Sometime in the near future, people will be able check in the Beach Read Suite, which will be like settling into a room at the Nantucket Hotel,” she shares.
Another fun, fictional detail in his new book that Hilderbrand brings to life? “In the hotel in the novel, they hand out something called the Blue Book, which is a guidebook of recommendations that the characters give to guests who enter. While I was writing this, I thought I should write my own Blue Book, because my readers constantly ask me for my own suggestions of what to see, where to go, what to eat, etc. when in Nantucket, so at the end of the novel is my own version of the Blue Book, which gives all my Nantucket recommendations for beaches, museums, shops and restaurants, it covers all festivals and weekends, and that’s kind of my take on this island.”
East The Nantucket Hotel an independent novel?
Hilderbrand explains that all of his summer novels are self-contained. “It’s just more fun if you’ve read those other books, but it’s all absolutely self-contained,” she says. “The only ones that really shouldn’t be read on their own are my winter series – I have two separate winter series, one is a holiday [the Winter Street series]one is the Heaven series taking place in Saint-Jean. These should be read in order.”
The Nantucket Hotel Easter eggs and returning characters:
“There are a tonne Easter eggs throughout the book,” reveals Hilderbrand. “Some of my characters from two of my very first novels, The beach club and The blue bistro, return to this novel, so people who have read all of Elin Hilderbrand’s books will see characters from both of these books, as well as other recurring characters. Some of them just make a brief appearance, but people who read my novels will be so, so excited.”
Hilderbrand adds, “This novel uses the Nantucket chorus voice – I do that in a bunch of my novels, Nantucket Speaks – because there’s a lot of hotel fly gossip, so these chapters are really fun, I think, and will be engaging for readers.”
Which Elin Hilderbrand novel to start with?
“The shipwreckedwhich came out in 2009, was the first book where there’s a bunch of characters coming back over and over again, so The shipwrecked is an excellent starting point. But really, honestly for people who’ve never read one of my novels, I either start them with The blue bistro, because it’s a restaurant book and it’s very delicious and has a great love triangle in it. Or, I start them with The perfect couplebecause The perfect couple is a murder mystery and a lot of readers enjoy that element.”
Are the retirement rumors true?
“I’m going to write two more summer books about Nantucket, and then after that, when I retire, I don’t know what I’ll do,” Hilderbrand said. Women’s day. “I may write more summer books about Nantucket or I may try – I’m not going to try another genre – but I might write something different, like somewhere else, maybe in Australia , maybe in New York , I don’t know. The good thing is that I will have the opportunity to write other types of books.”
“I plan to write a novel with my daughter. She is 16 years old and she attends this very chic boarding school in New England. It was her first year, she honed it and sailed it beautifully, but oh my, so much drama! I said to Shelby, “We’re writing a novel about a boarding school. And Shelby is an exceptional and incredible writer,” continues Hilderbrand.
“My dream is that I can stop writing and she can kind of replace me in a few years, but we’re going to write a novel about boarding school together. It’s not going to be a YA novel, it’s going to be an adult novel. – as the Catcher in the rye — put in boarding school. I’m going to write the two adult points of view, and she’s going to write the two student points of view. So it’s a project that I really want to do.”
Hilderbrand also has six book projects in development with various studios — and one of them was recently given the green light.
When asked if she can’t wait for her schedule to calm down in 2024, she replied, “Oh yes. I can’t wait. The problem is that the expectations are very high. The person whose expectations are highest is mine, which is the case should be. I have to keep writing the Nantucket summer books, and I want them to be better or different than the one that came before. Nantucket is a small place and I’ve already covered so much ground – this is my 28th novel – that I’ve run out of new material, I want to stop before I start repeating myself and before the quality of the books drops. I’m very determined to make sure the last two books are really great and different and exciting, and then I’ll end that part of my career and move on.”
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