Golden Girl
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4.3 • 3.5K Ratings
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
In this #1 bestselling page-turner from "the queen of beach reads" (New York Magazine), a Nantucket novelist has one final summer to protect her secrets while her loved ones on earth learn to live without their golden girl.
On a perfect June day, Vivian Howe, author of thirteen beach novels and mother of three nearly grown children, is killed in a hit-and-run car accident while jogging near her home on Nantucket. She ascends to the Beyond where she's assigned to a Person named Martha, who allows Vivi to watch what happens below for one last summer. Vivi also is granted three “nudges” to change the outcome of events on earth, and with her daughter Willa on her third miscarriage, Carson partying until all hours, and Leo currently “off again” with his high-maintenance girlfriend, she’ll have to think carefully where to use them.
From the Beyond, Vivi watches “The Chief” Ed Kapenash investigate her death, but her greatest worry is her final book, which contains a secret from her own youth that could be disastrous for her reputation. But when hidden truths come to light, Vivi’s family will have to sort out their past and present mistakes—with or without a nudge of help from above—while Vivi finally lets them grow without her.
With all of Elin’s trademark beach scenes, mouth-watering meals, and picture-perfect homes, plus a heartfelt message—the people we lose never really leave us—Golden Girl is a beach book unlike any other.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
In this moving romantic fantasy, an author gets the chance to rewrite her own story over the course of one golden summer. Divorced novelist Vivi was killed in a hit-and-run, but she isn’t quite finished with life on earth. In the afterlife, she’s given three chances to influence the world she’s leaving behind. Should she use them to help her struggling adult children? To hide evidence of her own youthful indiscretion? Elin Hilderbrand fills Vivi’s story with romance, nostalgia, and heartwarming lessons about the importance of letting go. Plus there’s all the sun-drenched Nantucket beauty we expect from the beach-read queen. More than just a sweetly sentimental diversion, Golden Girl is the kind of book you tell all your friends about as soon as you’re done.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Hilderbrand (The Beach Club) expertly tugs at the heartstrings with this fantastical story of an unexpected death. After Nantucket novelist Vivi Howe is killed in a hit-and-run, her family and friends are left reeling, among them her pregnant daughter, Willa; her hard-partying daughter, Carson; her son, Leo; and feckless ex-husband, JP. An Hèrmes scarf–wearing guardian spirit named Martha allows Vivi the chance to watch over them until the end of the summer, and allows her three "nudges" to keep them from harm. As the summer progresses and her loved ones struggle, Vivi learns her children's secrets—and considers using a "nudge" to intervene on Carson's relationship with an older man. She also watches as her ex-husband finally accepts that taking on a mistress was an epic mistake, and, with Martha's help, begins to move on into the afterlife. Hilderbrand has a talent for creating characters that etch themselves onto readers' hearts, and delivers a big, well-earned surprise with the hit-and-run driver's identity. Strong supporting characters, notably a long-ago ex from Vivi's past, add texture. Hilderbrand's enchanting, emotional novel will delight her many fans.
Customer Reviews
See AllMade me so yearning for Nantucket
I’ve been there many times over the years and I miss it so much. The author takes you there and you can almost smell the seabreeze. The characters are heartwarming too, and it’s a great story. I recommend it.
One of her best!
I am afraid I’m almost done reading all of Elin’s books. This is an absolute favorite!!
Golden Girl
I loved the characters and their flaws. Vivi gives them intriguing lives. ‘Golden Girls’ is golden!