Publication Date June 11, 2024
Elin Hilderbrand is well-known for being the “queen of beach reads.” About three years back, I read and reviewed her novel Golden Girl, and…was NOT impressed, in fact it was one of my very rare DNFs. But her string of books with titles like Summer of ‘69, 28 Summers, Trouble in Paradise…you get the idea. An, just as was the case three years ago, every once in a while, I want something escapist, something that is pretty much guaranteed to have a happy ending, and something that is NOT focused on any of the current “issues” that are like a tsunami whenever we turn on the news. With gratitude for Little, Brown and NetGalley (who provided a copy of Swan Song in exchange for my honest review), I dove in (note the cover photo?)
Over the years, I have had times (particularly when I was fumbling my way through a divorce, a new marriage, family issues, and moving to a new place, when I went in search of a book to sink into just for the comfort it might provide. MANY years ago, I stumbled onto a book by Nancy Thayer and found it somehow soothing: a happy ending, and it just felt like everyone in the story had found their footing and was going to be fine. I guess the genre was romance, although I have never been a fan of the “bodice-ripper” romance novels that seemed to be everywhere back then. In any case, I spent the past weekend reading Swan Song, Elin Hilderbrand’s latest Nantucket-based beach read, hoping for absolute escapist fiction. (Spoiler alert: I found it!)
As someone who hasn’t been one of the adoring fans of Ms. Hilderbrand, I didn’t reunite with any known characters from prior books, so everyone was new to me. That includes Police Chief Ed Kapernash, who is three days from a well-earned retirement when a young woman named Coco disappears. She had come to Nantucket to take a job as a “personal concierage” for the uber-wealthy Richardsons, a couple she met in a bar in the Caribbean, who seemingly spontaneously hired her to join them in Nantucket as they settled into their 22-million dollar home. On the ferry to the island, Coco met the police chief’s daughter, and they become instant BFFs. Relationships, shopping, subservience to employers…it’s a full story with lots of characters.
The Richardsons throw lavish parties at their home and on their yacht, and on one evening outing the party is interrupted by news that the mansion has burned to the ground, and when the yacht docks after the party, Coco is missing. Suddenly, Chief Ed has to solve the mystery of the disappearance of a main suspect in the fire (Coco) as well as the origin of the fire…was it arson? Revenge? Etc.
As noted above, there are many characters. I learned after I finished the book that this includes recurrent favorites from Hilderbrand’s other books (Blond Sharon and Fast Eddie as well as Chief Ed). The characters are well developed, and along the way, Hilderbrand uses them to explore themes of race, class, and family drama. The island of Nantucket is a character on its own, and Hilderbrand, like Thayer, builds an enjoyable story around it. Apparently, Swan Song is Hilderbrand’s final entry in her Nantucket series (her swan song?) Her fans will love this book, and many of us will just go along for the ride and lose ourselves in a well-written book with a good story. Need a beach read? GRAB IT. Four stars.