The Hotel Nantucket
Fiction
Little, Brown and Company
June 14, 2022
Advance reader E-book
416
Free from publisher via NetGalley
After a tragic fire in 1922 that killed 19-year-old chambermaid, Grace Hadley, The Hotel Nantucket descended from a gilded age gem to a mediocre budget-friendly lodge to inevitably an abandoned eyesore — until it's purchased and renovated top to bottom by London billionaire, Xavier Darling. Xavier hires Nantucket sweetheart Lizbet Keaton as his general manager, and Lizbet, in turn, pulls together a charismatic, if inexperienced, staff who share the vision of turning the fate of the hotel around. They face challenges in getting along with one another (and with the guests), in overcoming the hotel's bad reputation, and in surviving the (mostly) harmless shenanigans of Grace Hadley herself — who won't stop haunting the hotel until her murder is acknowledged.
My review:
I honestly don't know what we are all going to do when summer doesn't begin with an Elin Hilderbrand novel (the author has said she will only be writing them for a couple more years)! Most of her novels take place on Nantucket, and although I've been to the Cape and Martha's Vineyard, I've yet to make it to this island off the coast of MA. I don't know of any author who can create the sense of place better than Elin. From the beaches, to the food, to the shopping, and this time to a hotel. We follow a cast of characters who have all been hired to run the newly refurbished Hotel Nantucket. The new billionaire owner wants to receive a highly sought after 5 keys from a hotel reviewer, which leaves the staff with impossibly high standards to maintain (and put up with a lot of rude behavior from some guests, as you can imagine). We follow these characters, who all have their own backstories and secrets, as they aim to give the perfect hotel stay experience. One of the characters we also follow is the ghost of Grace, a woman intent on "haunting" the hotel until someone discovers the true story surrounding her death in 1922. While I understood that Grace was a perfect method for the reader to spy on some of the secretive behavior we might not have otherwise been privy to, I'm still not a fan of ghosts in my novels. Despite that small quibble, this was a highly entertaining and engaging read. I was rooting for all of these characters (even the ones who were a bit unlikable) and couldn't wait to see if they would get their 5 key review. I absolutely loved that at the end of the book the author wrote her own blue book (given to all the hotel guests to help them plan their stay on the island) which includes references to Nantucket places (and where some of her previous books took place). I'll definitely be keeping this guide in case I ever make it to Nantucket.
Another perfect summer read, with memorable characters, food, and places. While I could have done without the ghost, it honestly was a small dip in my enjoyment of this story. Definitely a book to tuck in your beach or travel bag.
