Birdie Cousins has thrown herself into the details of her daughter Chess's lavish wedding, from the floating dance floor in her Connecticut back ya...
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reviews
Jul 15, 2011
Jo Anne
rated it: 
A typical beach read with a lot of drama in women's lives.
I did not like the characters at all. I even didn't like their names-Birdie, India, Chess, Tate. These were rich spoiled women who didn't deserve the men in their lives. But, ofcourse everything works out perfectly for them and everyone lives happily ever after. Bleh!!
I did not like the characters at all. I even didn't like their names-Birdie, India, Chess, Tate. These were rich spoiled women who didn't deserve the men in their lives. But, ofcourse everything works out perfectly for them and everyone lives happily ever after. Bleh!!
Jan 26, 2012
Barbara
rated it: 
I really liked this story of four women, two sets of sisters a generation apart, spending a month together on an island off the coast of Nantucket. The setting is one of the things that brought the novel alive. Elin Hilderbrand knows this tiny island. She takes the reader by the hand and leads them all over it making them see it, vividly. You can nearly feel the sand give under your feet and smell the salty air. She knows these two pairs of sisters, too, and the particularly layered and mysterio
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Oct 05, 2011
Rebecca
rated it: 
Man, I haven't read any chick-lit books in like forever! And while this book wasn't as fluffy and cute as some what you would normally consider chick-lit, it was more in the realm of Jennifer Weiner, which I hate to put in that category, but it really is. It's a bigger book, more like 4-500 pages then less then 300. The characters are more detailed and less happens and it's more on character development then actually moving a story forward. This book pretty much had 4 characters and they were li
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Aug 04, 2011
Shari
rated it:
Birdie Cousins is a fifty-something recently divorced woman happy to be planning the extravagant wedding of her oldest daughter Chess. Still floundering from no longer having a husband to care for (not that the workaholic Grant paid much attention to her anyway), Birdie throws herself into place settings, flowers, and a floating island for the pond in the backyard, a spectacular setting for the bride and groom’s first dance. It comes as something of a shock when Chess, who always does the expe
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Jan 09, 2011
Cara
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Dec 28, 2010
Scargosun
rated it:
Being a lover of all things Cape and The Islands related, I dove into this book. I found the premise very interesting; secrets, devastation, coming together in a family summer place, healing. These issues are introduced right away in the first few sections (the book is really divided into sections focusing on the different family members that go to Tuckernuck Island for the month). Then later the book really starts to delve into the character development I went between being annoyed with their
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Sep 29, 2010
Brenda
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This book is about two sets of sisters from two different generations, Birdie Cousins, and her two daughters Chess and Tate along with Birdie's sister India. They decide to spent the month of July at the family home on Tuckernut Island.
Each woman woman has a story to tell and each of their stories revolve around love. Birdie divorced after thirty years of marriage is developing a relationship with Hank, a married man. They justify this relationship because Hank's wife has Alzheimer's More...
Each woman woman has a story to tell and each of their stories revolve around love. Birdie divorced after thirty years of marriage is developing a relationship with Hank, a married man. They justify this relationship because Hank's wife has Alzheimer's More...
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Sep 09, 2010
Ruth
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Chess is reeling after she breaks her engagement, Birdie, her mom has finally met someone that she cares about after her 30 year marriage has ended, Aunt India has experienced major problems with her most promising art student who has decided to withdraw and attend Parsons Art Institute instead, and Tate, is just Pollyanna but has never been in love and spends all her days fixing computer systems and her nights in a minimalist apartment, which is describing it nicely. With Chess hurting so much
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Aug 24, 2010
Carrie
rated it: 
Oh, to be born in to a family with a summer house on Tuckernuck--complete with no electricity or hot water....and a caretaker to bring you fresh food and the daily newspaper each morning, and return with the clean laundry and crab salad and cold wine for each afternoon....
Newly divorced Birdie Cousins is planning the wedding of her daughter, Chess, (short for Mary Francesca-how cool is that?) complete with hand made paper invitations and a floating island in her pond for dancing at t More...
Newly divorced Birdie Cousins is planning the wedding of her daughter, Chess, (short for Mary Francesca-how cool is that?) complete with hand made paper invitations and a floating island in her pond for dancing at t More...
Aug 05, 2010
Shonda
rated it:
Birdie Cousins is starting over…in her fifties. She’s recently divorced from her husband Grant and is about to embark upon a new relationship. Chess, Birdie’s oldest daughter, has always gotten what she wanted. She’s engaged to Michael and appears to be very happy. When she abruptly ends their engagement, it leaves everyone wondering why. Tate, the youngest, is a computer genius. She’s not a “girly-girl” by any means and is her sister’s complete opposite. She’s single and successful, but there’s
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Jul 23, 2010
Kristy
rated it:
After thirty years of marriage, Birdie Cousins has left her husband Grant, and is refinding herself. She has hobbies, a new boyfriend, and is busy planning her oldest daughter Chess' wedding. Mysteriously, Chess suddenly calls off the impending nuptials and quits her job; a job she was quite successful in. Birdie decides it would be good for the both of them to visit their house on Tuckernuck Island. Before departing, Chess' sister Tate invites herself along, and Birdie invites her sister In
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Jul 21, 2010
Denise
rated it:
Elin Hilderbrand's latest novel, The Island, tells the story of 4 women over one month on Tuckernuck Island. Birdie's daughter, Chess, is about to marry the perfect man. To celebrate and try to reconnect with Chess, Birdie invites her to spend a week in the old family vacation home on Tuckernuck Island. When Chess calls off the engagement and shortly after the ex fiancee dies in a freak climbing, the accident, the week turns into a month and Birdie invites her other daughter Tate and her own si
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Jun 24, 2010
Jennifer
rated it:
From My Blog (3.5 stars)....
The Island by Elin Hildebrand is a month-long soap opera in written form, about four women, their secrets, desires, insecurities and hidden passions. Birdie is divorced and concentrating on her daughter's upcoming wedding when she begins to date Hank, who happens to be married yet they both feel it is fine since his wife has Alzheimer's and is in a special facility. Birdie's sister India enjoys imbibing as well as a good joint, has a high opinion of More...
The Island by Elin Hildebrand is a month-long soap opera in written form, about four women, their secrets, desires, insecurities and hidden passions. Birdie is divorced and concentrating on her daughter's upcoming wedding when she begins to date Hank, who happens to be married yet they both feel it is fine since his wife has Alzheimer's and is in a special facility. Birdie's sister India enjoys imbibing as well as a good joint, has a high opinion of More...
Jul 31, 2011
Denise
rated it: 
Okay, so here's the thing. I keep claiming not to like chick lit, yet I keep choosing to read it. There must some inner part of me that is in fact drawn to this kind of book. Having said that, I will still award only 2 stars to The Island. There really is just no meat to it. Even the author says that one of the great lessons to be drawn from it is that "we can't help how we feel". That's not exactly a revelation or a good foundation for a great work of literature. Feelings don't
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Aug 05, 2010
Annie
rated it:
I'm reading this book and I really don't know why. OK. Actually I do: I reserved it months ago at my library and the waiting list is hundreds of people long. I feel an obligation!
About twenty pages in and I'm already exasperated with the story. Hilderbrand has a unique (and mildly annoying) habit of not having chapters in her books. Why? There are long stretches of disjointed prose separated with a heading for a different character.
All of Hilderbrand's books that I've rea More...
About twenty pages in and I'm already exasperated with the story. Hilderbrand has a unique (and mildly annoying) habit of not having chapters in her books. Why? There are long stretches of disjointed prose separated with a heading for a different character.
All of Hilderbrand's books that I've rea More...
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Dec 05, 2010
Jessica
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At first I thought that I would put this book away unfinished. I wasn't totally into it and I really didn't care for the characters. After about 75 pages though, I couldn't put it down! The author makes you love and hate each of the characters.
Birdie was not my favorite character at all. There were times when I thought she was pathetic, boring and just let people walk all over her. Then, halfway through the book, she changed and I liked her more. She still wasn't my favorite More...
Birdie was not my favorite character at all. There were times when I thought she was pathetic, boring and just let people walk all over her. Then, halfway through the book, she changed and I liked her more. She still wasn't my favorite More...
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Aug 19, 2010
Karen
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I always think of Elin Hilderbrand as my guilty pleasure reading, then question why I have to feel guilty about it. This is the second of her novels I've read, and she seems to specialize in character-based contemporary tales set on Nantucket, a place I now crave to visit. Told in third person from four points of view, The Island tells the tale of two pairs of sisters from two generations. Thirty-two-year-old Chess, the golden child, was to be married when suddenly, after expensive and extr
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Sep 27, 2010
Traci
rated it:
I always find Elin Hilderbrand novels hard to get into. Her stories are about rich, white characters with whom I can't relate. They live lives that, as far as I can tell, they SHOULD have been happy with...yet they are usually miserable with their lot. But then something happens as I continue reading... I fall in love with the location (usually Nantucket, but in this case, Tuckernuck Island)...and then because of the characters' relationship with the location, I start to fall in love with the
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Aug 15, 2010
Pamela
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Birdie Cousins, her daughters Chess and Tate, and her sister India decide to spend the month of July at the old family summer home on Tuckernuck Island off Nantucket. Birdie is divorced after 30 years of marriage to Grant who was totally involved in work and golf; Chess is in the throes of depression after the death of her former fiance; Tate has loved secretly for years but has never been loved; and India struggles with a different kind of love as she copes with the aftermath of her husband's
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Aug 18, 2010
Susan
rated it:
A mother goes to the family house on an island to spend a week with her daughter who is about to get married. However, before the week together can start her daughter calls to tell her the wedding is off! Her other daughter wants to come too. So "mom" invites HER sister so there are two generations of sisters in various stages of romantic relationships. As the days go by their relationship to one another grow and their romantic relationships change.
The setting for thi More...
The setting for thi More...
Feb 01, 2012
Ingrid
rated it:
Un mois passé sur une île loin du monde moderne, sans téléphone, sans télé, sans eau chaude, c'est long ! Et pourtant, c'est ce que les quatre filles du roman d'Elin Hilderbrand ont fait ! Birdie, l'instigatrice de l'expédition, ses filles Chess et Tate, et India, sa soeur, ont plaqué leurs impératifs et leurs priorités pour se retrouver sur l'île de Nantucket. Elles y passeront un mois de vacances placées sous le signe de la reconstruction. J'ai adoré l'ambiance de ce livre ! La mer, le sable,
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Oct 10, 2011
Beth
rated it:
Now I've read every book that Hilderbrand has published, and as with most of the others, I really enjoyed this one. I found it fascinating to get a peek into what life is like on rustic Tuckernuck Island (who knew that something like that was less than a mile away from Nantucket?), and wondered whether that kind of a vacation would drive me crazy, or if it would be just what the doctor ordered.
I thought it was fitting that each woman in the story had some sort of inner struggle to More...
I thought it was fitting that each woman in the story had some sort of inner struggle to More...
Jul 29, 2011
Abby Lyn
rated it:
Two generations of sisters return to their ancestral summer hideaway on rustic Tuckernuck Island in this summer offering by Elin Hilderbrand. Birdie, a recently divorced homemaker in her fifties who has finally found romance again, is busily planning her eldest daughter's wedding when abruptly, beautiful Chess uncharacteristically calls off the engagement. To help mend a shattered heart, Birdie proposes an escape to Tuckernuck, a private retreat off of Nantucket. Chess's artistic aunt India a
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Oct 04, 2010
January
rated it:
I have to admit that when I read the synopsis of this book I didn't think I was going to like it, but it is set in Nantucket and I was planning a trip to Maine and wanted a book that took place around that area and the reviews were good so I thought I would try it out. I have never read any of Elin Hilderbrand's novels so I wasn't sure what to expect. I am so glad I did! I loved this book!
This book is about 4 women that go to an Island and stay at a house that has been in their fa More...
This book is about 4 women that go to an Island and stay at a house that has been in their fa More...
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Apr 28, 2011
Diane
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I have read a few other Elin Hilderbrand novels and I liked this one as much as her others.
It is a good story that is easy to get lost in. The story takes places on an island called Tuckernuck in a summer home that has been in the Tate family for generations. Birdie Cousins is the mom, with two daughters, Chess and Tate. Chess is the daughter who has just called off her wedding, suddenly. Tate is the younger daughter, looking for love while Birdie herself is divorced and learning abou More...
It is a good story that is easy to get lost in. The story takes places on an island called Tuckernuck in a summer home that has been in the Tate family for generations. Birdie Cousins is the mom, with two daughters, Chess and Tate. Chess is the daughter who has just called off her wedding, suddenly. Tate is the younger daughter, looking for love while Birdie herself is divorced and learning abou More...
Mar 28, 2011
Erin
rated it:
There was not a single thing that I didn't love about this book. Wonderfully written with characters that I truly cared about - I couldn't ask for anything more. I loved how the author spoke from the perspective of the four women this book centers around - Birdie, the matriarch; India, her sister; Chess, her oldest daughter; and Tate, her youngest daughter. We watch these four women as their lives completely change and how each of them react to it. I loved the symmetry between the two sets o
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Aug 23, 2010
Virginia
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Aug 26, 2010
Laura
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I enjoyed reading this book.
The strength was in the characters, 4 interesting, complex women. Although they had very different personalities, each had something I could identify with.
But even more than their individual quirks, I enjoyed their relationships-- with their love interests, and especially with each other. The two generations of sisters interacting with each other, the different way each daughter related with her mother, all these added the texture to the book More...
The strength was in the characters, 4 interesting, complex women. Although they had very different personalities, each had something I could identify with.
But even more than their individual quirks, I enjoyed their relationships-- with their love interests, and especially with each other. The two generations of sisters interacting with each other, the different way each daughter related with her mother, all these added the texture to the book More...
Aug 09, 2011
Tania
rated it:
This book was good summer reading material. It definitely explores the bonds between sisters, mothers/daughters and has romantic relationships as well. I liked how Chess wrote in her journal so the reader was able to hear her story (even if she wasn't telling anybody else on the island). They were all there "for Chess" but all the women had their own problems they were dealing with. They were interesting stories from all different stages of life but the women all seemed pretty self
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Aug 08, 2011
Sue
rated it:
I read this book because it was picked as book of the month for a Goodreads book club that I've joined. I wasn't expecting to like it as much as I did. The four female characters really got into my head, I could visualize them, and I could feel for them. Birdie and India being the "older" generation of nearly 60 and with Chess and Tate being the younger 30 year olds. Despite that it was so interesting to feel the commonality that they hd regarding love, both present and past, Will
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