Nantucket Sisters: A Novel
Emily Porter can’t wait to get to her family’s vacation home on Nantucket because that means another summer of adventuring and imagination with her best friend, Maggie McIntyre. At 11, Emily is too naive to understand why Maggie is never invited to her house or why Emily’s mother looks down on Maggie’s mother, a divorced seamstress. As they get older, and the class divisions deepen, Maggie and Emily remain Nantucket sisters even when Emily falls in love with Maggie’s older brother, Ben. But when they finish college, they finally drift apart as they try to settle into adulthood. Then Emily meets the dashing Cameron Chadwick, who is old-money New York, just like her. At the same time, Maggie has a one-night stand. The two women go through their pregnancies separately, and it is not until tragedy strikes that they are brought back together again. Thayer obviously knows her Nantucket, and the strong sense of place makes this the perfect escapist book for the summer, particularly for fans of Elin Hilderbrand. --Susan Maguire