The Island

Thoroughly enjoyable book with four strong, female characters and their various relationships with each other and with their men. The characters' storylines unfolded throughout the book at a good pace that kept me wanting to read "just one more chapter", and the setting for the epilogue was a great way to wrap up all the storylines. Recommended for light, or beach, reading.

This was one of the last books my mom got me before she passed and I wanted to like it more. I didn't hate it - it was a compelling story and had a good plot - I just didn't love any of the characters. The Island centers on four women staying a month on a remote island while they all grapple with issues in their lives. Chess has just called off her marriage, quit her job, and is about to receive the biggest blow of her life. Her sister, Tate, has been coasting through life making big bucks as a computer programmer but doesn't have any friendships or relationships to speak of. Their mother, Birdie, has finally met a man after she separated from her husband but she's putting that on hold to spend some time with her daughters. Birdie's show more sister, India, is escaping a scandal at the art school she's working at. While on the island the only contact with the outside world is Barrett the hot young caretaker who comes once a day to bring groceries and keep the isolated house in working order. While they lick their wounds, they need to us the month to communicate with each other and maybe solve some of their issues. It weaved together well, I just wished I liked or related to the characters more. show less

Book on CD read by Denise Hicks

This is just a sappy soap opera set on Tuckernuck Island off Nantucket. Everyone is wealthy. Everyone is unhappy in love, OR, has fallen instantly in love (possibly with the wrong person). Everyone behaves like a 3-year-old or at their best like they’re in junior high.

Here’s a sample:
They had officially been “together” for only nine days, but every day on Tuckernuck was a lifetime, and so it felt like forever. They had made love sixteen times, they had shared eleven meals, they had watched three movies, gone to two restaurants, taken five boat rides, caught two fish.
I don’t know a single high-powered, computer genius professional woman who thinks like this!

The sibling rivalry arguments are show more even worse. Not only do the two young women carry on like toddlers who can’t share a toy, their 50-something mother and aunt also dig up their own sibling rivalries.

I finished it only because it fulfilled a challenge. It was fast (thank heavens for MP3 players that let you speed up the delivery) and didn’t require much thought. But it was still a waste of time. show less

The Island by Elin Hilderbrand was a contemporary, women's fiction read that had me hooked.

Content Warning: Suicide, death and cheating.

I picked up this book from a local indie bookstore as a "blind date book." It was one of those fun marketing ideas where they wrap the book up in brown paper and put some notes on the paper about what the book is about. The books were on sale for $6.00 too, so I thought... what a steal! I'll pick a unique book that I hopefully haven't read and give it a whirl! I was surprised and delighted to pick this book up, as I have been eying down Elin Hilderbrand for a while, but I just never managed to grab one of her books.

The Island didn't pull me in right away, but by 3/4s into it I was HOOKED. There's show more something about the drama and intrigue that brought me back to my soap opera loving days. I had to know what happened at all costs. The more I got into the book, the more I had to binge. It was quite the ride for me, and it made me smile. I miss these kinds of books that pull me deeper in as I go along. What a nice change.

But anyways, time for the actual content and review!

This book follows a set of four women in one family. Birdie, her daughters Tate and Chess, and her sister India. After a traumatic and tragic loss, the four set off to "The Island" - an old family cottage in Nantucket that will bring back many memories and make new ones. Of course, there's lots of drama going on for all four women - loss, love, grief, and careers. Each woman goes on her own journey, while simultaneously having effects on the others.

It's quite the women's fiction read. I definitely think it'll be a niche for some readers, but I also think it was very well written. I can tell why many readers wouldn't like it, but I enjoyed dipping my toes into the sand and watching the stories unfold. Each woman changes and grows throughout the book, which made it really stand out to me. I do love good old fashioned drama (which this book had a lot of), but the growth and discovery really stood out to me. Seeing these women deal with difficult issues and try to solve them in their own little ways made this book so special.

I'll definitely be trying to pick up more books by Elin. In fact, I already found one! This book is over ten years old, so hopefully I can pick up a few more recent ones and see what journey I go on with them.

If you love soap opera drama, character growth and development, potential love triangles, and a pinch of trauma... Check out this book.

Four out of five stars! show less

The four women’s time on Tuckernuck is supposed to bring them respite from their troubles. Chess is by far the most troubled, a fact her mother has recognized, and about which she is deeply and understandably alarmed. Prior to leaving for the island, Chess has seen a therapist every day who has recommended that she write her thoughts and feelings in a journal. As she does so, readers gradually learn out the real story behind her breakdown.

Chess is easily the most compelling of the four characters, as well, simply because her mental condition seems genuinely fragile. Sure, the others have problems, but they pale in comparison to the fact that Chess is experiencing the first real crisis of her life . . . and it’s a doozie. Although show more she is portrayed as a bit of a whiner at the outset, Chess is reminiscent of Robert Redford’s “Hubbell” in The Way We Were: Everything has always come too easy to her. She is bright, beautiful, outgoing, competitive. She has attained every goal she ever set for herself and gotten everything she ever wanted. Until, that is, she met Michael and his brother, Nick, and realized for the first time that love can be complicated, hurtful, and impossible to disregard. As her secret is slowly revealed, it becomes clear that Chess is weighed down by guilt and that weight is fueling her retreat from life. But should she feel guilty? Did she do anything wrong? Was she — along with Nick — responsible for Michael’s unhappiness? Or his fate? And where does she go from here? After all, life on Tucknernuck is nothing more than a temporary retreat, not a permanent solution.

India is tough, having survived a tumultuous, if loving, marriage to artist Bill, as well as his suicide and its aftermath. She is looking forward to being a grandmother soon, but her recent experience with Lula has proven deeply unsettling for a variety of reasons. She is attempting to maintain a professional and appropriate distance from Lula, who is plainly interested in much more than a business relationship with India. She is concerned not just about the actual implications of launching a relationship while Lula is a student, but, rightfully, the potential perception of impropriety. More importantly, Lula has stirred feelings in India that she has never experienced before and, although she wants to pursue them — if she can clear the professional hurdles — she is fearful of what her family and friends will think.

Tate has been in love with Barrett since she was a teenager. But back then, he only had eyes for Chess. He was smitten with her older sister as, it seemed, all the boys were, even though Chess had no interest in him. Their father even arranged a date for Chess and Barrett which turned out quite badly. In the thirteen years since Tate has seen Barrett, they have both matured. Tate is a successful businesswoman, while Barrett has taken over his father’s maintenance business. He is a widower with two young sons to raise. Will Barrett finally notice and appreciate Tate? Or will his old feelings for Chess be rekindled when he sees her again, especially now when she is so vulnerable and in need of support?

Lastly, there is Birdie, who divorced Grant because he was more married to his career than to her. She knows that her feelings for Hank are not right — he is, after all, still married, even if his wife is incapacitated with no hope of recovery. Hank has wined and dined her, showering her with the kind of attention she longed for from Grant. But with Grant she has the comfort and familiarity that comes with having been together for over three decades, during which they raised two beautiful daughters. Their time has passed . . . hasn’t it? Grant will never change. He’ll always be obsessed with his career . . . won’t he?

Author Elin Hildenbrand has created four female characters and placed them in an entrancing setting. Her descriptions of Tuckernuck are rich with detail and imbued with loving vignettes about the island, its traditions and inhabitants. It is a place any reader would want to visit, sheltered from society and accessible only by boat, even though the house is somewhat crude, lacking hot water and only generating enough electricity for a few small appliances. No cell phone reception? No problem. A brisk walk to the end of the island where there is reception is good exercise on a warm summer day, and a wonderful opportunity to further explore the island.

After a month at their island hideaway, it is no wonder that by the time the book concludes, all four women are feeling better about themselves and their lives, rested and rejuvenated after lying on the beach, eating light meals, taking walks, and sleeping as much as they want while contemplating their problems, and pondering solutions. With the possible exception of Chess, none of the four women are facing very serious issues, and all are fortunate in that they have complete financial stability. Still, each character is well-developed, her history fleshed out in sufficient detail to place her current concerns in context. And each is at a crossroads — none of their lives will be the same after they leave the island and return to their “real” lives and responsibilities. By the end of their vacation on Tuckernuck, has each woman learned something about herself? Yes, and that makes the read worthwhile.

The Island is enjoyable, the action moving along swiftly with a few surprises and plot twists thrown in to keep things interesting. It is the perfect book to pack in your tote bag and read on the beach or by the pool. The theme, tone, characters, and pace all combine to make it a delightful “beach read.” show less

A summer on a remote island filled with revelations and secrets - mothers, daughters, sisters (oh and a man or 2). Ms. Hilderbrand weaves a lovely story. Her characters are enjoyable and at points I loved and loathed each one.

Elin Hilderbrand's latest novel, The Island, tells the story of 4 women over one month on Tuckernuck Island. Birdie's daughter, Chess, is about to marry the perfect man. To celebrate and try to reconnect with Chess, Birdie invites her to spend a week in the old family vacation home on Tuckernuck Island. When Chess calls off the engagement and shortly after the ex fiancee dies in a freak climbing, the accident, the week turns into a month and Birdie invites her other daughter Tate and her own sister India to try and help Chess find her way out of the deep depression she has fallen in. They plan for a quiet, nurturing month caring for Chess, but the island has its own ideas. The reality will turn out to be far more exciting and healing show more than any of them expect.

This was my first introduction to Elin Hilderbrand and I was very pleasantly surprised. I anticipated a shallow but mildly entertaining summer read. Instead I found impressive depth and detail with all the mess and complication of real life. The characters were interesting, fully realized people who I would be friends with in real life. I enjoyed every minute of getting to know them. If the end is a bit of a fairy tale, all neatly tied up and happy, I liked the book even better for it. A thoroughly enjoyable read and I look forward to diving into the rest of Hilderbrand's work. show less