The Hotel Nantucket

38-year-old Minnesotan Lizbet Keaton came to Nantucket 15 years ago, inspired by a classmate who embodied its beachy, effortless glamor. She is known for her blond braids and ingenious creative ideas and has become an “island sweetheart,” half of a power couple with JJ O’Malley, with whom she runs the Deck, a popular summer restaurant (7).

On discovering that JJ has cheated on her, Lizbet buries her heartache and attempts to move furiously ahead with her life. She cultivates a sleek new image and embraces the challenge of becoming the Hotel Nantucket’s general manager and scoring Shelly Carpenter’s elusive five-key rating. Her creative vision flourishes as she comes up with touches that make guests’ stays distinctive, and she is a fair-yet-firm manager who becomes an inspiration to Edie. However, as the summer goes on and she opens herself up to the possibility of new love with Mario, Lizbet must also begin Redressing Past Hauntings by acknowledging her unresolved grief over her miscarriage and how JJ’s betrayal broke her sense of trust. Lizbet learns that without reckoning with the past, she cannot fully put it behind her and live in the present. By the end of the novel, she is immersed in her new life with Mario and has shifted her reputation from being JJ’s other half to being a standout creative visionary in her own right.