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Elin Hilderbrand

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Elin Hilderbrand
Born (1969-07-17) July 17, 1969 (age 55)
Collegeville, Pennsylvania, U.S.
OccupationAuthor
LanguageEnglish
Alma materJohns Hopkins University
GenreFiction, romance
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]

Early life and education

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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

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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

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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

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Novels

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Book Title Year Published ISBN
The Beach Club 2000 ISBN 978-0-312-38242-1
Nantucket Nights 2002 ISBN 978-0-312-98976-7
Summer People 2003 ISBN 978-0-312-99719-9
The Blue Bistro 2005 ISBN 978-0-312-99262-0
The Love Season 2006 ISBN 0-312-36969-7
Barefoot 2007 ISBN 978-0-316-01859-3
A Summer Affair 2008 ISBN 978-0-316-01860-9
The Castaways 2009 ISBN 978-0-340-91980-4
The Island 2010 ISBN 978-0-316-04387-8
Silver Girl 2011 ISBN 978-0-316-09966-0
Summerland 2012 ISBN 978-0-316-09983-7
Beautiful Day 2013 ISBN 978-0-316-09976-9
The Matchmaker 2014 ISBN 978-0-316-09975-2
Winter Street 2014 ISBN 978-0-316-37611-2
The Rumor 2015 ISBN 978-0-316-33452-5
Winter Stroll 2015 ISBN 978-0-316-26113-5
Here's To Us 2016 ISBN 978-0-316-37514-6
Winter Storms 2016 ISBN 978-0-316-44948-9
The Identicals 2017 ISBN 978-1-473-61123-8
Winter Solstice 2017 ISBN 978-0-316-43545-1
The Perfect Couple 2018 ISBN 978-0-316-37526-9
Winter in Paradise 2018 ISBN 978-0-316-43551-2
Summer of '69 2019 ISBN 978-0-316-42001-3
What Happens in Paradise 2020 ISBN 978-0-316-43557-4
28 Summers 2020 ISBN 978-0-316-42004-4
Troubles in Paradise 2020 ISBN 978-0-316-43558-1
Golden Girl 2021 ISBN 978-0-316-42008-2
The Hotel Nantucket 2022 ISBN 978-0-316-25867-8
The Five-Star Weekend 2023 ISBN 978-0-316-25877-7
Swan Song 2024 ISBN 978-0-316-25887-6

Short Stories

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Book Title Year Pubished ISBN
The Surfing Lesson: An Original Short Story 2013 ISBN 978-0-316-24286-8
The Tailgate: An Original Short Story 2014 ISBN 978-0-316-37616-7
Summer of '79: A Summer of '69 Story 2020 ISBN 978-0-316-54180-0
The Sixth Wedding: A 28 Summers Story 2021 ISBN 978-0-316-30917-2

References

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  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. ^ a b 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. ^ a b "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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