Golden Girl

It isn't summer without a new Elin Hilderbrand novel -- and this one is another immensely satisfying page-turner from "the queen of beach reads" (New York Magazine).

Golden Girl follows Nantucket novelist Vivi, who gets one final summer -- after she is killed in a hit-and-run accident -- to protect her secrets and learn from her mistakes while her loved ones still on earth try to solve the mystery of her death.

Vivian Howe, author of 13 beach novels and mother of three young adults, is killed in a hit and run car accident while jogging near her home in Nantucket. She ascends to the Beyond where she's assigned to a Person named Martha, who agrees Vivi's death was unfair. Martha allows Vivi to watch what happens below with her children, her best friend, and her ex-husband.

Martha gives Vivi the use of three "nudges" so that she might influence the outcome of events in the world of the living. Vivi discovers her children's secrets, watches the investigation of her death (headed by Chief Ed Kapenash from The Perfect Couple) and worries about a secret from her youth, fictionalized in her novel, coming to light.

Combining Elin's trademark beach scenes, mouth-watering meals, picture-perfect homes and other Nantucket landmarks with a heartfelt message -- the people we lose never really leave us -- Golden Girl is a beach book unlike any other.