Quotes from Elin Hilderbrand

They have a host of helpful practical information for your visit! Website: Nantucket-ma.gov. Getting Here (and Back Home) Is the Hardest Part "How much is the toll for the bridge?

There is no bridge! Nantucket Island is thirty miles out to sea and therefore is accessible only by boat or plane. There are direct flights from New York (JFK), Newark, Washington, DC, and certain other cities in the summer on JetBlue, United, American, and Delta. Cape Air runs a nine-seat Cessna from Boston and JFK year-round. (Warning: these Cessnas are not for the faint of heart, as per the scene in Golden Girl!)

We also have ferries, known on the island as "the fast boat" and "the slow boat." The slow boat is operated by the Steamship Authority and is the only way to bring a vehicle. If you want to bring your vehicle to Nantucket, you must get a reservation (and these sell out way in advance, starting in early January!).

The most underrated force at work in the universe is that of coincidence.

With this in mind, Ava tells herself to be present and celebrate the holiday instead of wishing it over. After all, one is given only a certain number of Christmases in one's life.

You're taking time to process. You aren't making excuses. You aren't blaming

At the hospital, an unfamiliar doctor told them that Vivi hadn't made it. She didn't make it was too gentle a phrase because it sounded like Vivi hadn't made it this time but could maybe try again.

value yourself the way I value you.

Adrienne accepted the crackers like a hungry beggar. She gobbled the first cracker and it was so delicious that she let the second one sit on her tongue until it melted in a burst of flavor. It tasted like the crisped cheese on top of onion soup that she used to devour after a day of skiing. But better, of course, because everything that came out of this kitchen was better.

Although the hotel in the book is a creation of my imagination, the Nantucket Hotel does have certain similarities: It has both rooms and suites, a family pool and an adult pool, a fabulous fitness center, a yoga

where a person comes from means far less than what she makes of herself.

Cliffside's lobby is one of the most spectacular spaces on the island. The hotel has twenty-three rooms (where you step out into sand), a pool and a fitness center, a small private café, and a private beach on Nantucket Sound. (The water is calm and good for swimming.) Cliffside is a splurge—if you can get in!

Don't you think everyone deserves to find love?" Link asks. "Isn't that what we're all programmed to search for? Someone we can connect with—a lover, a friend—someone to build a life with?

only someone had been there to remind him that his life, someday, would be over and he should pay attention and enjoy while he could.

Website: Greydonhouse.com; Instagram: @greydonhouse. When you really want to get away from it all, check out the Wauwinet Inn. It's nine miles out of town (this is very far by Nantucket standards), but the drive takes you along the beautiful, winding Polpis Road

The cottage has a Peloton, an espresso machine, and a bottle of tequila on the kitchen table just for you.

where you'll pass farms, ponds, and the Nantucket Shipwreck and Lifesaving Museum. The Wauwinet is located on the harbor at the entry to Great Point. The hotel has an expansive deck lined with Adirondack chairs that overlook the harbor. There's a library, a charming tucked-away bar, and a fine-dining restaurant, Topper's (which is where Bone Williams takes Alessandra in this book and where Benji and Celeste

After menu meeting came a delicious family meal: fried chicken with honey pecan butter, mashed potatoes, coleslaw. As Adrienne slathered her fried chicken with butter she thought happily of all the money she would save on food this summer.

Jeeps; they were rugged vehicles). There were years when my kids climbed on my friends' cars (even better). Because you can drive onto it, Fortieth Pole is particularly good for evening beach barbecues with kids—the water is calm and warm, and you'll have a magnificent view of the sunset. Smith's Point is hands down my favorite beach because you can access both the waves of the ocean and the flat water of the sound. There's

you'll never forget. There is a guardhouse just before the Wauwinet Inn where you purchase your sticker. On your way home, you can pop into the Wauwinet's super-cute tiny bar for a drink. (Topper's, the restaurant, is exquisite but expensive, even by Nantucket standards.) There are some people who think driving on a beach is an abomination. I respect that—and so does Nantucket. Most beaches do not allow cars. Here are some of my favorite

get the "krabby patty" (crab, shrimp, and scallop patty) with avocado, bacon, lettuce, tomato, and their delicious sauce. My daughter gets acai bowls. The boys get the grilled chicken sandwich or burgers. It falls into my "can't miss" category if you're staying on Nantucket more than one day during the summer. However, there is often a line—you've been warned!

Nobadeer Beach: Party central. Are you twenty-five or younger? Go here. There is a walk-on section and a drive-on section. Both are filled with beautiful young people living their best lives. If you're walking on, please do not park on the road—you will get a ticket. Cisco: Do you surf or like to watch other people surf? Go here. The beach is much narrower than at Surfside and Nobadeer

home was where her mother lived.

oohing and aahing over the Old Whaling Church and