Swan Song

Hilderbrand’s (The Five-Star Weekend) many fans will feel bittersweet about her latest: it follows her usual mix of colorful and glittering characters and places on Nantucket Island, but she says it will be her last Nantucket-set novel. Police chief Ed Kapenash is retiring after having a heart attack, but on his last weekend on the job, a house destroyed by fire and a missing friend of his daughter make him defer his retirement. The story returns to the arrival and wild lives of ultra-wealthy and mysterious newcomers, the Robinson family. In a story told from many perspectives, readers learn how the ostentatious Robinsons and their wild parties brought out the best, the worst, and underlying conflicts in many Nantucket islanders. All the characters, especially the Robinsons, have secrets and resentments they want to keep hidden. Fans will be thrilled to revisit characters from Hilderbrand’s earlier stories and see how their lives have moved on and continue to change up until the sweetly romantic ending. Readers new to the author may find it difficult keeping track of the many characters and be best served by first reading her earlier books.