Golden Girl
Ratings15
Average rating3.9
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 Margaret, who agrees Vivi's death was unfair. Margaret allows Vivi to watch what happens below with her children, her best friend, her ex-husband, and her rival novelist (whose book is coming out the same day as Vivi's). Margaret 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 our old friend Chief Ed Kapenash) and worries about a secret from her youth, which is embedding in her forthcoming novel, coming to public light. Elin Hilderbrand's twenty-seventh novel is a beach book like no other.
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Very much like a holiday movie, and not only because the main character has to be the most serene and peaceful dead person ever to interact with others living or in limbo.
3.5 Rounded to 3
For the most part I enjoyed this one. I absolutely loved the idea of being able to watch your loved ones, guided by an Angel, after a sudden and unexpected demise. To be able to make sure your children, family and friends would be ok and able to move on would bring some comfort I think.
What bothered me most is that I early on I could see exactly where this was going and instead of a summer mystery with familial struggles and healing, I got a story that felt lackluster and a tad boring. It's not fun when not even a few chapters in the entire book is figured out so the BIG reveals are just yea ok I already knew that...
I always love reading this author's books because more often than not a feeling of summer is strongly emitted from the words and scenarios. I don't have much of a summer where I live so I love books that have me wrapped in the warm glow.
I would still recommend this as I'm sure others will love a tad more than I did. I will definitely pick up this author's other books and already have a few waiting for me on my shelf.
The New York Times called Golden Girl Elin Hilderbrand's best novel—and I can't contradict that.
Novelist Vivian Howe is untimely killed in a hit and run, and in her boho-chic viewing room in the sky she is awarded three nudges to help those closest to her while they process her death. This story follows a large cast of characters, all with different connections to Vivi, her children, her ex-lovers, and what really blew me away is that I wanted to know what was going to happen with every single one of them. Many authors struggle to pose two or three pressing story questions in a novel, but in Golden Girl there were... eight? Maybe more? I was completely invested in each storyline, and I didn't see the twists coming. A deeply satisfying read with a theme so beautiful, it had me in tears. Five stars. All the way.
