The Hotel Nantucket

Introduction

The Hotel Nantucket (2022) is American writer Elin Hilderbrand’s 28th book. In 2019, New York Magazine journalist Katie Heaney dubbed Hilderbrand “the Queen of beach reads” (Heaney, Katie. “How Elin Hilderbrand Became the ‘Queen of Beach Reads’.” New York Magazine, 2019). According to Heaney, Hilderbrand mastered the beach-read formula, which “was meant to signal a light, fun, breezy read, high on interpersonal drama, low(-ish) on plot” (Heaney). While beach reads are often dismissed as low-brow, their largely apolitical nature appeals to people across the political divide and garners a wide spectrum of readers. Unlike some of her contemporaries, Hilderbrand, who is a fixture on Nantucket Island where she has summered since childhood, does not mind being branded a beach-read writer.

The Hotel Nantucket is a bestseller that received mixed reviews. New York Times journalist Michelle Ruiz observed that “as a travelogue, the novel is exquisite, transporting you ‘on island,’ as ACK lingo goes”, however, she would have also appreciated a similar “richness in the characters and their stories,” which often felt too fleetingly described (Ruiz, Michelle. “Beachy, Sunkissed Novels Set on Nantucket and Cape Cod”, The New York Times, 2022). On the other hand, Elin Hilderbrand herself wrote that Nantucket could “hardly be more fun than this book” and praised it for being the type of beach read that she does best (Hilderbrand, Elin. “The Hotel Nantucket.” Kirkus Reviews, 2022).

This study guide uses the Hodder & Stoughton Kindle edition, published in 2022.

Plot Summary

Finding herself heartbroken after catching her long-term boyfriend and work collaborator, JJ O’Malley, exchanging sexually-explicit messages with another employee, Lizbet Keaton throws herself into the challenge of becoming General Manager of The Hotel Nantucket. Xavier Darling, the distant, British owner of the newly-renovated hotel, wants the hotel to earn an elusive five-key rating from notoriously-picky travel journalist Shelly Carpenter. However, this will prove difficult given that the hotel is haunted by Grace Hadley, a chambermaid who died in a 1922 fire that was started by the mistress of her lover, the hotel owner.

As the hotel opens, more challenges are afoot, as the hotel’s staff members are each plagued with secrets and private agendas. For example, charismatic Alessandra Powell visits the rooms of the hotel’s male guests, looking for a replacement for Michael Bick, the wealthy, married man she was with when she first came to the island. Then, rich kid Chadwick Winslow becomes a housekeeper in the hotel as self-inflicted penance for causing an accident that left his college friend, Paddy, half blind. Meanwhile, summer-long guest Kimber Marsh causes mayhem when her daughter, Wanda, begins to investigate the ghost in the hotel. A staffer named Edie helps Wanda get an article published in the local paper, which boosts the hotel’s fame.

Lizbet begins a relationship with the hotel restaurant’s star chef, Mario Subiaco; however, she finds that she still has trust issues left over from JJ’s adultery. When she realizes that Mario is not two-timing her with hotel wellness coach Yolanda Tolentino, she allows herself to love him and fully start a new life. As the summer closes, Xavier Darling emerges on the scene, and the staff bends over backwards to please him. However, when Magda, the head of housekeeping and the woman he has been wooing for decades, rejects his marriage proposal, Xavier decides to sell the hotel to a corporate bidder. This devastating news arrives just when the hotel earns the five-key accolade from Shelly Carpenter, who is, in reality, summer-long guest Kimber Marsh.

Rescue comes in the form of secretly-wealthy Magda and Chad’s father, Paul Winslow, pooling their millions to buy the hotel from Xavier. Before the staff can celebrate, they must reckon with 1922 owner Jackson Benedict’s journal, which reveals that his wife, Dahlia, locked Grace in the attic, leading to her death in the fire. Grace feels at peace when this confession is revealed, and she decides to stay in the hotel because it feels like home to her.