Although Blond Sharon is very busy—finding a parking spot at Nobadeer Beach, shepherding her reluctant teens to the Maria Mitchell Observatory so they can witness the once-in-sixty-years viewing of Neptune, and trying to secure reservations at the back bar at Cru—she finds that thoughts of Hollis’s Five-Star Weekend still linger in her mind.
“You’re starting to frighten me,” Sharon’s sister, Heather, says. “You’re completely obsessed.”
Sharon isn’t sure how to explain it. She has heard stories about many a girls’ weekend (college reunions in Tulum, Moms do Coachella)—but somehow this one hit different. Your life story in friends. Sharon doesn’t know Hollis well (or, truthfully, at all), but even so, a part of her wishes she’d been included.
“There’s a solution to that,” Heather says. “Host a Five-Star Weekend of your own!”
Of course! Sharon thinks. That’s what she’ll do. All she has to do now is figure out whom to invite.
Oh, what a difference a year makes.
Hollis Shaw sells her home in Wellesley and permanently moves to First Light out on Squam Road. We are overjoyed to have her back among us where she belongs. But is this enough of a happily ever after for Hollis?
No—we can do better.
Hollis Shaw and Jack Finigan have, slowly, started dating, though Jack still lives in Western Massachusetts. The distance is good for them both; they can each have their space and take their time, though they occasionally talk about Jack buying a small place on Nantucket.
Hollis’s daughter, Caroline, graduates from NYU with honors and is offered a dream job—assistant producer at KeepItReal Films in Los Angeles. The glowing letter of recommendation from Isaac Opoku doesn’t hurt, but the execs at KeepItReal are more impressed by Caroline’s short-film submission, The Five-Star Weekend.
With Caroline successfully launched, Hollis and Jack decide they want to take a trip. They do the some might say predictable thing and book a Viking River Cruise in Italy. During the welcome cocktail hour, they’re asked how long they’ve been together, and Jack tells everyone they’re “high-school sweethearts.” Neither of them feels the need to explain further. Let’s say Tatum and Kyle McKenzie are on the cruise as well—after all, they have a lot to celebrate—and while we’re at it, what about Dru-Ann Jones and her fiancé, Nick Wofford, and Brooke Kirtley and her new girlfriend, Trinh Nguyen? (Trinh is the Wellesley College professor who runs the book group that Brooke used to find so intimidating; now Brooke is an avid reader and offers the most insightful opinions during the discussions.)
It’s a five-star reunion—or nearly.
On the flight home from Rome, they hear the usual announcement: “Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking.”
The voice is unmistakable.
Brooke grabs Hollis’s forearm from across the aisle. “It’s Gigi,” she says. “She’s our pilot! I can’t believe this. We need to go up and say hello!”
Is Hollis alarmed or even horrified that Gigi is flying their plane?
Not at all. Though Hollis and Gigi no longer text, Hollis does sometimes zoom in on the Kitchen Lights that are glowing in the Buckhead area of Atlanta. She imagines the light on in Gigi’s kitchen, imagines that Gigi is, perhaps, trying her hand at Hollis’s shatteringly crispy fried chicken recipe. Hollis hopes Gigi has someone new at her side—maybe a fellow pilot, maybe a guy she met at the gym, maybe Mabel’s veterinarian. It doesn’t matter who it is, as long as Gigi is his number one.
“We will,” Hollis says. “But let’s wait until we’ve landed safely.” She leans her head on Jack’s shoulder and closes her eyes.
She has already landed safely.
Acknowledgments
This novel is dedicated to two of the most important men in my life: Michael Carlisle and David Forrer, my agents at Inkwell Management. I met Michael while I was a student at the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop. There’s a whole story that goes with this, but the short version is that we bonded over our mutual love for Nantucket, and when I told Michael I was writing a novel set on the island, called The Beach Club, he asked me to send it to him. That was in the spring of 1998; he has now been my agent for twenty-five years. (I always say that agent-author relationships are like marriages—half of them end in divorce. But happily, Michael and I are celebrating our silver anniversary!) David Forrer joined us in the summer of 2006, bringing his keen editorial eye, sense of humor, attention to detail, and deep well of kindness. Michael and David have created a safe space for me in the often chaotic world of publishing. I would not be here writing the acknowledgments of my twenty-ninth novel if it weren’t for them. They are not only five-star agents, they are five-star human beings.
Thank you to my editor, Judy Clain, who has done it again! I stand in awe of Judy’s sensibility; she consistently brings out my best writing and the most engaging story.
Huge thanks to the entire team at Little, Brown, including (but not limited to) Anna de la Rosa, Mariah Dwyer, Bryan Christian, Danielle Finnegan, Jayne Yaffe Kemp, Tracy Roe, Terry Adams, Craig Young, Karen Torres, Brandon Kelly, Lauren Hesse, Sabrina Callahan, Bruce Nichols, the legend that is Michael Pietsch, and my beloved publicist Katharine Myers.
Debbie Briggs’s descriptions and details of life in Wellesley, Massachusetts, were invaluable. (Any inaccuracies, changes, or exaggerations are mine alone.) When I borrow a secondary location, I try to get it right, and I could never have come close if Debbie hadn’t told me about the Linden Store, Fireball nips at the Wellesley–Needham Thanksgiving Day game, Poet’s Corner, and all the other reasons why the town is known as “Swellesley.”
Thank you to Grace Bartlett for helping me create a character who is an aspiring documentary filmmaker. (Caroline can only hope she is half as talented as Grace!)
My inspiration for Hollis’s recipes came from several places. The bacon and rosemary pecans are courtesy of Lulu Powers. (She made these for me in the fall of 2021 and I think about them every day.) The sour cream and roasted onion dip is from one of my favorite food bloggers, @bevcooks. The peach cobbler with the hot sugar crust is by Chef Renee Erickson. And anyone who has been to Liz Georgantas’s Nantucket home knows where I got the idea for the pizza party—as well as the chandelier made from Coke bottles.
To my work husband, Tim Ehrenberg of @timtalksbooks and Nantucket Book Partners, there aren’t words for how much I love (and need) you. Santi is one lucky man.
Thank you to Timothy Field for saying and doing and being all the things I need on any given day.
Thank you to my sister, Heather, for always, always, always having my back—since the days of red knee socks and George Washington pageboys.
Thank you to my Nantucket people: Rebecca Bartlett, Wendy Hudson, Wendy Rouillard, Margie and Chuck Marino, Richard Congdon, Anne and Whit Gifford, Liz and Beau Almodobar, Evelyn and Matthew MacEachern, Helaina Jones, Heidi Holdgate, Shelly Weedon, West Riggs, Manda Riggs, David Rattner and Andrew Law, Sally Horchow, Sue Decoste, Linda Holliday, Jeannie Esti, Melissa Long, Katie Norton, Deb Gfeller, the fabulous Jane Deery, Bill Emery, and Julie Lancia (French bobby pins forever!). I want to thank my ex-husband, Chip Cunningham, who is not only my co-president in running the Cunningham family but also my treasured friend.
This brings me to the kids: Maxx, Dawson, Shelby, and Alex. This past year, I watched you grow up, shine your lights, and make your beautiful ways in the world. I am lucky for so many reasons, but mostly because I have you.
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About the Author
Elin Hilderbrand lives year-round on Nantucket, where she enjoys going to the beach, cooking for her young-adult children, and occasionally dancing in the front row at the Chicken Box. She is a grateful nine-year breast cancer survivor. The Five-Star Weekend is her twenty-ninth novel.