The Five-Star Weekend by Elin Hilderbrand

This is such a great beach read, but it was read in the winter to help get rid of the winter blues and so maybe it is a great winter read too. After loving The Hotel Nantucket this author was worth reading again. Famous food/life style blogger Hollis Shaw grew up in Nantucket, left for college and never returned full time. Hollis met her husband, Matthew, had a daughter, Caroline, raised Caroline and was living the life of her dreams in Wellesley when her life gets turned upside down. Right before Christmas Matthew is in a car accident and died. Hollis is haunted by the argument the two of them had right before he walked out the door with Matthew saying you have changed, we have changed. Hollis had this feeling Matthew was signaling he wanted a divorce. Caroline upset with what she saw as her mother putting her blog ahead of her and her father is made that Hollis lived and Matthew died on his way to the airport. Caroline shuts out her mother, but still wants her to pay her rent for the summer internship she has. 7 months later Hollis is still in state of despair and one night in the summer house she and Matthew built in Nantucket discovers what another widow did to help her a girls weekend with four friends who knew the widow at different stages of her life. Hollis figures this is it this is what she can do and she knows just the four women to invite to her Nantucket home for the weekend, and pays her daughter to film it. The most touching moment is not one any of the five start ladies have, but in interviewing them Caroline realizes that her mom has always been there for her and she did not have a role model showing her how that was done and that helps her forgive her mother. This book is not a tear jerker, but may make you laugh out loud or cheer for each star as over the course of the weekend they realize why having a team of strong women at your side is important.

Character List/Book Summary:

Hollis Shaw – during COVID her food blog took off unexpectedly and with her daughter in college and her husband always off presenting at conferences she put her focus into that. 7 months ago, 2 weeks before Christmas, her husband dies in a car accident a short distance from home trying to avoid hitting a deer.  Tries to connect with her daughter, but is rebuffed, but hopes this weekend will help with that too. During the weekend has memories of Jack from her childhood and Matthew.

Matthew – a surgeon, was going to Germany for a conference when he died.

Caroline – mad that her mom was alive and her dad died. A film student who got a summer internship with Isaac Opuko and was having an affair with him. Accepts money to film the weekend, because while she wants her mom to pay the rent she does not want to ask for spending money from her mom. At the start of the weekend is upset with her mom, reconnects with her high school crush, and tells her mom that one of the stars Dru-Ann is being “cancelled” because someone video taped a rant about mental health issues one of her clients was having (but really wasn’t). Over the weekend reconnects with her mother through the help of her mother’s friends telling Caroline about the Hollis they knew.

Tatum – Hollis’s star from childhood, her mother helped raise Hollis after Hollis’s mother died when she was a few months old. They called each other sis because of how close they were. Tatum was so mad at Hollis for going to UNC- Chapel Hill that she messed up the champion softball game. Is waiting to find out if the lump in her breast is cancer, has the memories of her mother being sick and dying a few months after her breast cancer diagnosis her senior year in high school. Married her childhood sweetheart, Kyle, and works as a cleaner on Nantucket. The weekend really helps take her mind off waiting for the results and reconnect with Hollis.

Dru-Ann – Hollis’s star from college, her roommate at UNC and who was her maid of honor. Hollis did not know how to tell her that her mother died when she was so young so did not tell Hollis the truth until a year and half of knowing her, when she explained about how she always had to borrow a mom and Dru-Ann was the first person she met who did not already know her mom was dead. Dru-Ann becomes a sports agent, and is dating the father of one of her clients. Dru-Ann is caught yelling at Nick, her boyfriend, about how he let his daughter use the excuse of she is having mental health issues and cannot finish the golf tournament she is playing in so that she can go to see her boyfriend play St. Andrews. Right before the weekend her boss demands she issue an apology, but Dru-Ann refuses, over the weekend things get worse because people do not believe she was standing up for people with real mental health issues. Almost decides to move into Hollis’s guest house because of how bad things were looking for her career.

Brooke – Hollis’s star from when Caroline was growing up. Her husband, Simon, is getting sued for sexual harassment, again, and Brooke tells him she is leaving him right before the weekend started. Socially awkward, but over the course of the weekend she realizes something important about herself, with the help of Gigi and Dru-Ann. Was the one that took Hollis to the funeral home and helped her with the funeral arrangements and getting through the first week. Realizes that she accidentally told Electra, a mother from Hollis and Brooke’s friend group, too much about the weekend.

Gigi – Hollis’s start from now, but they have never met. Gigi reached out to Hollis through her website and became friendly with Hollis several months before Matthew’s death and then offered to listen if Hollis wanted to talk. Unbeknownst to Hollis she had been having an affair with Matthew, and befriended Hollis to know her competition (at first, but then started to like Hollis). After Electra makes a comment, confesses to Hollis about the affair and what happened in the car before Matthew died.

Jack Finigan – Hollis’s high school sweetheart, best friend is Kyle (Tatum’s husband). Moved off the island because Hollis wasn’t there full time anymore. Decided with Kyle to come back since Tatum would be spending the weekend at Hollis’s they would have a guys weekend. Starts to reconnect with Hollis, tells Caroline about what her mom was like in high school, and Caroline realizes she never knew that part of her mom.

Dylan McKenzie – Tatum’s son and Caroline’s high school crush, runs into him at the start of the weekend and enjoys flirting with him and spending time with him. Caroline gets to redo the night they met, when Dylan’s ex shows up again to cause a scene.

Electra – one of the moms in Wellesley, Hollis blocked her from her newsletter and stopped being friends with her due to how she treated Brooke. Crashes the dinner and the brunch, during which time she makes comments about Gigi and insinuates Gigi and Matthew were having an affair.

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