Elin Hilderbrand

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Elin Hilderbrand
Born (1969-07-17) July 17, 1969 (age 55)
Collegeville, Pennsylvania, U.S.
OccupationAuthor
LanguageEnglish
Alma mater Johns Hopkins University
GenreFiction, romance
Main Street, Nantucket. Featured in many of Hilderbrand's books. 2015 Nantucket MA Main Street view.jpg
Main Street, Nantucket. Featured in many of Hilderbrand's books.


Elin Hilderbrand (born July 17, 1969) is an American writer of beach reads that are often focused on mystery and romance. Her novels are typically set on and around Nantucket, where she resides. [1] [2] [3] In 2019, New York magazine called her "the queen of beach reads". [4]

Contents

Early life and education

Born and raised in Collegeville, Pennsylvania, Hildebrand spent her summers on Cape Cod, "playing touch football at low tide, collecting sea glass, digging pools for hermit crabs, swimming out to the wooden raft off shore", until her father died in a plane crash when she was 16. She spent the next summer working in a factory that made Halloween costumes. While working at the factory, she promised herself to find a way to spend every summer at the beach. [5]

She attended university at Johns Hopkins University majoring in creative writing. After graduating, she became a teaching and writing fellow at the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop. [6] [7]

Career

Hilderbrand moved to Nantucket in 1993, working as a "classified ads girl" at a local paper. During her first trip to Nantucket, she met her now ex-husband, Chip Cunningham. [5]

Her first novel The Beach Club was published in 2000. This novel was chosen as the People Magazine Beach Read of the Week. Beginning in 2000, her novels were published by St. Martin's Press. [8] Since Barefoot in 2007, they have been published by Little, Brown and Company.

Hilderbrand has put Nantucket on the map. Her writing shows that Nantucket is not just a beach town but a literary backdrop. Her novels' locations are written from reality, featuring local businesses and landmarks in current-day Nantucket like the Brant Point Light and "The Chicken Box". [9] . Moreover, despite many of her books not being apart of a book series, characters and locations overlap.

Her 2018 book The Perfect Couple, which was her first murder mystery was adapted by Netflix and released as a miniseries with the same name in 2024, starring Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Eve Hewson and Dakota Fanning. [10]

Ellen Pompeo has been working with ABC to adapt Hilderbrand's Paradise Trilogy into a TV series in which she would star after her departure as the lead actress in Grey's Anatomy . [11]

After her 30th book was published, The Swan Song, Hilderbrand made the decision to retire from Nantucket based novels. Her latest inspiration is a two part book series based on her daughter, Shelby Cunningham's experience at St George's School in Newport, Rhode Island. The first book of the series is expected to release in Fall 2025. [12]

Personal life

In 1995 Hilderbrand married Chip Cunningham at The Chanticleer in the Nantucket village of Siasconset. [13] They have three children, [14] and were divorced in 2015. [13]

Hilderbrand was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2014, undergoing a double mastectomy. Since 2014, she has undergone many reconstructive surgeries. [15] Hilderbrand has been very vocal about her diagnosis and empowering other women through her movement, #mamastrong. This initiative sends her books to cancer centers around the United States. [16]

Bibliography

Novels

Book TitleYear PublishedISBN
The Beach Club2000 ISBN   978-0-312-38242-1
Nantucket Nights2002 ISBN   978-0-312-98976-7
Summer People2003 ISBN   978-0-312-99719-9
The Blue Bistro2005 ISBN   978-0-312-99262-0
The Love Season2006 ISBN   0-312-36969-7
Barefoot2007 ISBN   978-0-316-01859-3
A Summer Affair2008 ISBN   978-0-316-01860-9
The Castaways2009 ISBN   978-0-340-91980-4
The Island2010 ISBN   978-0-316-04387-8
Silver Girl2011 ISBN   978-0-316-09966-0
Summerland2012 ISBN   978-0-316-09983-7
Beautiful Day2013 ISBN   978-0-316-09976-9
The Matchmaker2014 ISBN   978-0-316-09975-2
Winter Street2014 ISBN   978-0-316-37611-2
The Rumor2015 ISBN   978-0-316-33452-5
Winter Stroll2015 ISBN   978-0-316-26113-5
Here's To Us2016 ISBN   978-0-316-37514-6
Winter Storms2016 ISBN   978-0-316-44948-9
The Identicals2017 ISBN   978-1-473-61123-8
Winter Solstice2017 ISBN   978-0-316-43545-1
The Perfect Couple2018 ISBN   978-0-316-37526-9
Winter in Paradise2018 ISBN   978-0-316-43551-2
Summer of '692019 ISBN   978-0-316-42001-3
What Happens in Paradise2020 ISBN   978-0-316-43557-4
28 Summers2020 ISBN   978-0-316-42004-4
Troubles in Paradise2020 ISBN   978-0-316-43558-1
Golden Girl2021 ISBN   978-0-316-42008-2
The Hotel Nantucket2022 ISBN   978-0-316-25867-8
The Five-Star Weekend 2023 ISBN   978-0-316-25877-7
Swan Song2024 ISBN   978-0-316-25887-6

Short Stories

Book TitleYear PubishedISBN
The Surfing Lesson: An Original Short Story2013 ISBN   978-0-316-24286-8
The Tailgate: An Original Short Story2014 ISBN   978-0-316-37616-7
Summer of '79: A Summer of '69 Story2020 ISBN   978-0-316-54180-0
The Sixth Wedding: A 28 Summers Story2021 ISBN   978-0-316-30917-2

References

  1. ↑ Egan, Elisabeth (January 23, 2023). "Hilderbabes Take Nantucket". The New York Times . Retrieved February 26, 2023.
  2. ↑ "for the ARTS record". The Nantucket Independent. June 13, 2007. Archived from the original on November 20, 2008. Retrieved November 24, 2008.
  3. ↑ Hilderbrand, Elin (June 12, 2014). "The True Story This Fiction Writer Has to Tell Today". HuffPost . Retrieved February 26, 2023.
  4. ↑ "How Elin Hilderbrand Became the 'Queen of Beach Reads'". The Cut. June 18, 2019. Retrieved August 8, 2022.
  5. 1 2 Elin Hilderbrand (June 23, 2011). "What I Know for Sure about Sand in My Sheets". Oprah. Retrieved April 26, 2013.
  6. ↑ ""The Love Season" - (back flap)" . Retrieved November 24, 2008.
  7. ↑ "A Summer Affair: A Novel". amazon.com. July 1, 2008. Retrieved November 24, 2008.
  8. ↑ "How Hachette Grew Elin Hilderbrand". PublishersWeekly.com. Retrieved January 23, 2016.
  9. ↑ Pennington, Juliet. "A Visit to Elin Hilderbrand's Nantucket". New England Living. New England Living. Retrieved March 19, 2025.
  10. ↑ Bitran, Tara. "Meet the Cast of Wedding Guests and Murder Suspects of The Perfect Couple". Tudum by Netflix. Netflix. Retrieved March 19, 2025.
  11. ↑ Otterson, Joe (January 25, 2021). "Ellen Pompeo to Produce Series Adaptation of Elin Hilderbrand's 'Paradise' Novels at ABC". Variety. Retrieved June 7, 2022.
  12. ↑ Vaughan, Kelly. "30 books and 25 years later, Elin Hilderbrand is ready for a vacation". Today. Today Magazine. Retrieved March 19, 2025.
  13. 1 2 "Nantucket Today: The Queen of the Beach Reads". nantuckettodayonline.com. Retrieved June 4, 2021.
  14. ↑ "Meet the Author: Elin Hilderbrand | South Shore Moms" . Retrieved June 4, 2021.
  15. ↑ "Hilderbrand on double-mastectomy recovery". CBS News .
  16. ↑ Wise, Lisa. "Elin Hilderbrand on cancer, writing and perspective". The Washington Post. Retrieved March 19, 2025.


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