Review: The Island

The Island by Elin Hilderbrand
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Chess Tate's wedding is fast approaching and her mother Birdie has invited her to spend a week at the family summer home on small island off the coast of Nantucket. Suddenly Chess breaks her engagement and quits her fast-track job with no explanations given. Then her fiance dies. The mother-daughter trip is expanded to include Chess's sister Tate and Birdie's sister India. Once on the primitive island (no electricity, no hot water) the four women come to terms with a variety of losses and issues. This is a lovely story about mothers and daughters, and about sisters. Each woman comes to terms with grief, divorce, jealousy, and identity as the island works its magic. The story is told in pieces from each woman's perspective, and through it all the love they hold for each other shines through. I really enjoyed this novel.

Update: July 2 2016. I don't believe it!! I read this book 4 years and have no memory of it. I liked it this time around but was planning to give it only 3 stars. I thought it was a bit slow -- perhaps because I'd already read it and while I didn't consciously remember it, maybe I did subconsciously!

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