The Five-Star Weekend by Elin Hilderbrand
Summary
Hollis Shaw's life seems picture-perfect. She's the creator of the popular food blog Hungry with Hollis and is married to Matthew, a dreamy heart surgeon. But after she and Matthew get into a heated argument one snowy morning, he leaves for the airport and is killed in a car accident. The cracks in Hollis's perfect life--her strained marriage and her complicated relationship with her daughter, Caroline--grow deeper.
So when Hollis hears about something called a "Five-Star Weekend"--one woman organizes a trip for her best friend from each phase of her life: her teenage years, her twenties, her thirties, and midlife--she decides to host her own Five-Star Weekend on Nantucket. But the weekend doesn't turn out to be a joyful Hallmark movie.
The husband of Hollis's childhood friend Tatum arranges for Hollis's first love, Jack Finigan, to spend time with them, stirring up old feelings. Meanwhile, Tatum is forced to play nice with abrasive and elitist Dru-Ann, Hollis's best friend from UNC Chapel Hill. Dru-Ann's career as a prominent Chicago sports agent is on the line after her comments about a client's mental health issues are misconstrued online. Brooke, Hollis's friend from their thirties, has just discovered that her husband is having an inappropriate relationship with a woman at work. Again! And then there's Gigi, a stranger to everyone (including Hollis) who reached out to Hollis through her blog. Gigi embodies an unusual grace and, as it happens, has many secrets.
Book Setting: Nantucket
Old North Wharf
Squam
St. Mary’s
The Nantucket Lobster Trap
Cru
The Nautilus
The Chicken Box
Galley Beach
Wicked Island Bakery
Barlett’s Farm
167 Raw Nantucket
Hatch’s Package Store
Slip 14
Hooper Farm Road
Straight Wharf Restaurant
Murray’s Toggery Shop
Mitchell’s Book Corner
Handlebar Cafe
Gypsy
Black-Eyed Susan’s
Reviews
"A dreamy Nantucket house party given by a meticulous hostess goes off the rails....The people in her books may screw up, but Hilderbrand always gets it right...Amazing."
—Kirkus Reviews (starred)